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Monday, August 06, 2007
Environment official denies land deal with SM
By Rimaliza Opiña
BAGUIO CITY -- An environment official said there is no truth to reports that he is favoring SM Investment Corporation (SMIC) in the award of a lot where a call center building is being constructed.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Director Samuel Peñafiel said the mode by which SM acquired the properties, particularly those titled under the Insular Government of the Philippines, was regular.
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Peñafiel said what should bother Baguio Councilor Rocky Balisong was how Townsite Sales Applications (TSAs) were filed covering the area when it is a known fact in the DENR, especially among the AO 504 clearing committee, that these had long been conveyed to SM.
Last week, Balisong criticized the DENR for awarding lots that are supposedly for public use such as for school sites, road-rights-of-way, and sites for government offices.
In his speech, the councilor named Dominador Bucalen as his source.
But the DENR said Bucalen and several personnel of the AO 504 clearing committee are under "routine" investigation for allegedly accepting TS applications filed much later than when SM acquired the property in 1991. The fact-finding team was formed last February.
The entire SM lot was acquired from two entities -- the Luneta Hill property from the Development Bank of the Philippines and Cyberzone from the DENR.
Information from the DENR Legal Division revealed there are several TS applications on the Cyberzone area.
Of these applications, eight were cleared in 2004, five were filed in 2003, one in 2002, seven filed in 2005 were still not cleared, and there were two others that did not contain the date of filing.
Peñafiel said all of these applications would be rejected.
Balisong earlier said the DENR should have given priority to the applications made by individuals rather than SM.
But Peñafiel countered that the disputed lots could not anymore be the subjects of TS applications because these were already titled under Original Certificate of Title 1.
Indeed, OCT 1 covers the SM property, including portions of Governor Pack Road, Harrison Road, and Burnham Park, totaling 30 hectares.
It also covers nine parcels of land, which are Lots 3, 124, 115, 125, 126-A, 126-B, 128, x, and y.
Peñafiel stressed only a portion of OCT 1 was sold to SM and contrary to what the councilor said SM could not claim the buildings already situated in the area.
He clarified that some parcels under OCT 1 have also been re-allocated by virtue of presidential proclamations, which is why the Commission on Elections, University of the Cordilleras, University of the Philippines-Baguio, Baden Powell Inn, SSS, and Bibak buildings, among others, were built.
The SM property has also been declared for tourism purposes, which is why a park and the mall were put up there. With regard to the cyber building, SM was authorized by the Office of the President to convert the area into a cyber zone.
Fifteen years after it acquired the property, SM asked that a deed of absolute sale be issued since it had complied with the conditions of the DENR, especially on the allocation of a road-right-of-way.
Peñafiel said the DENR would not convey the property to SM if it failed to comply with the conditions.
Records revealed that SM allotted a total of 2,834 square meters for right-of-way purposes.
On the allegation that the boundaries of OCT 1 could not be determined, Peñafiel said it is not possible that the property would overlap with other properties because this has been delineated on the ground.
The surrounding titled properties are boundaries of OCT 1, he said.
"There are other ways to identify a property's boundary, one basic practice is the location of the tie point (boundary) of adjoining titled properties and connecting this to the area being examined and it is noted that OCT 1 is surrounded by titled areas," said the DENR.
The DENR, meanwhile, welcomed the creation of a five-member fact-finding committee by the Baguio City Council. He said this would enable Balisong to ventilate the points he raised. (Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (August 6, 2007 issue)
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