Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Osmeña 'softens' stand on eviction of town hall By Edmund B. Sestoso
PAMPLONA, Negros Oriental -- Former Senator John Osmeña is now open to negotiation with town officials regarding the recovery of the land occupied by the town hall believed to be owned by Pamplona Plantation Holdings Incorporated.
The former senator is the president of the Pamplona Plantation Holdings Incorporated and had earlier sent a letter to Mayor Apolinario "Jun" Arnaiz informing him that they will already take back the 40-hectare land owned by the plantation.
The town hall, church and several squatters presently occupy the 40-hectare land.
In a recent radio interview, the former senator said he will visit this town several days from now and will get the sentiments of the public.
Earlier, Osmeña intended to seek legal redress to evict the squatters in their property.
Representative George Arnaiz (2nd district, Negros Oriental) said he will look into the documents of the land since this area has long been occupied by the town hall and yet the alleged owner has come out just now.
Meanwhile, Board Member Saleto Erames welcomes the gesture of Osmeña in trying to visit Pamplona town and get the pulse of the local public before he directly takes back the piece of land.
Erames said even if Osmeña won't listen to the voice of the people, he cannot easily take back the 40-hectare land and evict the people occupying the area especially that they have already been in the area for a long period of time.
The board member who is a lawyer by profession added that Osmeña may seek legal ways to retrieve the land but this will still take a long process for it to be resolved.
He also claimed that possibly there are lapses to Osmeña's claim of the land.
The local legislator emphasized that there is a certain law called "sleeping on one's right" that means the owner of the land has the right over the property but then he has taken his responsibilities over the land for granted and has allowed squatters to occupy in his property for a long period of time.
He added that there is a need to scrutinize and check the documents thoroughly since there is a possibility that the real owner of the land has already donated it to the local government of Pamplona.
Erames said nevertheless the gestures of the former senator is a good sign that there will be a possible coming up of a positive agreement.
