Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Who owns Sacobia? (Part 2)
IF MABALACAT Mayor Marino Morales is to be believed, the 3,325 hectares contested portion of the Sacobia Estate rightfully belongs to the town.
Morales based his claim on a Sketch Plan (SWO-03-000083), which delineates 3,325 hectares that forms part of the 5,724 hectares of the Sacobia Estate for Mabalacat.
He said the claim of Mabalacat on the area was further strengthened by Executive Order (EO) 344 issued by former President Fidel Ramos.
EO 344 transferred the areas occupied by the then Sacobia Development Authority (SDA) to the Clark Special Economic Zone. The EO particularly mentioned the sketch plan that Morales cited as one of the basic arguments for Mabalacat's claim.
"It is just normal for the Mabalacat Municipal Government to protect its territory, and Calumpang has long been under the supervision of Mabalacat," Morales said.
But Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Leonardo Anunciacion disputes the claims of Morales.
Anuciacion said in 1993, the then municipal agrarian reform officer for Mabalacat Emmanuel dela Cruz, who was assisted by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) regional office, requested the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to identify areas at the Sacobia Estate in Bamban, Tarlac for the creation of the agrarian reform communities for Mabalacat.
Consequently, according to Anunciacion, between the periods of July 23-26, 1993, the DENR prepared a second sketch plan based on the request of dela Cruz. He added that the DENR recalled the 1997 sketch plan.
Lawyer Adenn Sigua, municipal attorney for Bamban, said Calumpang, where much of the contested lands lie, is a mere Sitio of Barangay San Vicente in Bamban.
But Calumpang, as far as Mabalacat is concerned, exists as a "bona fide" barangay.
Morales stressed that mere documentation could not overrule the fact that Mabalacat has exercised jurisdictional and territorial powers over Calumpang.
"The people there (Calumpang) are voters and residents of Mabalacat. The people of Calumpang have long recognized the jurisdiction of Mabalacat in the area," he said.
Morales also pointed to a certification issued by Local Government Regional Director Josefina Castilla-Go, which states that "Barangay Calumpang forms part of the Municipality of Mabalacat with official barangay code Number 35409005." This was also seconded by another certification from the Commission on Elections.
With the seemingly elusive common ground and accusations of quarry encroachment, both parties decided to formally hear the case instead of going to court. Both municipalities have agreed to settle the issue through a joint session by both the Tarlac and Pampanga provincial boards (PBs).
Both PBs responded with the creation of the Bamban-Mabalacat Boundary Dispute Committee that will hear the boundary dispute between the two municipalities. However, a determined resolution is still elusive as the committee's decision would just be "recommendatory" nature.
Sigua hoped for the soon resolution of the case, which has been dragging for almost seven years.
The Tarlac and Pampanga PBs will meet on August 21 at the Tarlac Provincial Capitol to finalize the rules for the committee. But until then, Sacobia will find no peace as quarters would try to exert their influence in the area, which still has vast quarry resources waiting to be tapped. (IOF)
