The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has not yet conducted a formal investigation on the alleged syndicate victimizing individuals in Davao del Norte and other parts of Mindanao by claiming ownership of a vast tract of land inside the Davao Prison and Penal Farms (Dapecol) in Sto. Tomas town.
In a telephone interview Monday, NBI Tagum special investigator Elly Leaño said they have yet to receive a formal complaint and could not therefore conduct a formal investigation about the matter.
Leaño said this is not stopping them from gathering information about the suspects who have already been identified.
Leaño, however, said they are not at liberty to identify these persons because they are still trying to establish the involvement of each in the scam.
Davao del Norte Provincial Agrarian Reform Office head Nicasio Lemente, however, identified one of the two suspects as Merlyn while the other is a woman from Digos City identified as a certain Pabilona.
Leaño urged those who were victimized by the syndicate to file a complaint before the NBI Tagum so they could start their formal investigation on the matter.
Moneyed individuals were reportedly victimized by the Domingo Group that includes a prominent businessman from Central Mindanao who even helped the group talk with Dapecol authorities regarding its claim to the 1,600-hectare land situated inside the Dapecol.
The businessmen, however, stopped helping the group after sensing that something is irregular in its documents.
In a document obtained by Sun.Star Davao, one Merlyn Domingo Ramirez informed Dapecol officer-in-charge Venancio Tesoro concerning the Domingo clan's ownership of the 1,675.0025 hectares situated in "Sitio of Barrio/District of Tanglaw/Municipality of Sto. Tomas and Panabo in the Province of Davao del Norte."
It was claimed that Ramirez is the "absolute representative to the clan of the late Damian Domingo." In her letter dated October 5 addressed to Tesoro, Ramirez recounted how her grandfather, Damian Domingo, settled in Davao in 1937 and developed a land.
"Then in 1951, Antonio Floirendo Sr. also arrived, he and grandfather became good friends. In 1957, the year of his death, Domingo's claim to 1,675.0025 hectares was given due course via a survey for this purpose. Then in August 5, 1960 results were given to the Bureau of Lands and approved in November that year (Approved Plan Sgs 1296-D), was segregated in the name of Damian Domingo," Ramirez said.
The Domingo clan allegedly presented a survey plan from the Bureau of Lands dated April 18, 1957. What is surprising in the document though is that the surveyed land is said to be situated in "Sitio Barrio, Tanglaw District, Municipality/City of Sto. Tomas and Panabo, Province of Davao del Norte, Island of Mindanao."
A Dabawenyo trader, who has some interest in the vast banana plantation in Davao del Norte, questioned the document saying that when it was issued in April 1957, the Davao Region has not yet been divided into provinces. If the document is indeed genuine it should have stated the area as just Davao Province and not Davao del Norte.
