DAGUPAN CITY — Seven illegal fish pens in the water of Dagupan city earlier claimed by their owners as sitting on titled properties but were proven not, are due for demolition in Dagupan up to November 28 this year.
This was bared by Maximo Solis, operations officer of the Task Force Bantay Ilog, who said after due verification and validation, the seven fish pens were discovered to be outside of titled properties.
He said all these are scheduled for demolition on order of Mayor Belen Fernandez.
The mayor also ordered the verification and documentation of 50 other fish pens claimed by different owners as standing on their respective properties although these are underwater.
The City Agriculture Office (CAO) earlier revealed there are at least 63 fish pens in the rivers of Dagupan City being claimed as standing on private properties.
City Legal Officer Victoria Cabrera advised the agriculture office that private properties that were submerged in water across the years are now parts of the public domain.
Meanwhile, Solis said on order of Mayor Fernandez, the task force went on to demolish two new illegal fish pens in the island village of Barangay Salapingao being put up reportedly by a village official.
He said they are verifying on the person who were building these structures as mayor Fernandez wants the city legal office to study the filing of a case against the erring barangay official. PNA-northboundasia.com