DAGUPAN CITY — After clearing the navigational lanes of illegal fish pens along the city’s main rivers in line with the Oct. 30 deadline set by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, the City Agriculture Office has now set its eyes on fish pens situated on titled properties numbering around 50.
City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said such fish pens are now being validated by the City Assessor’s Office in a bid to find out whether these are really inside titled properties, their respective areas and what barangays are these located.
One thing is certain, all properties being claimed are partly under water and under the law, these already became part of public domain which only the State has jurisdiction of, she said.
Molina admitted the remaining structures built along the river banks are claiming legal rights over their structures as they sit on titled lots.
“In order to validate their claims, we are now asking the owners of these structures to submit proofs of their claims within three days. Otherwise, we will issue them a warning for final dismantling of their structures,” she said.
Molina added that aside from this, the city will also cross-check the claims of such fish pen owners with the cadastral map of the rivers in order to validate their claims.
From July this year to October 10, the City Agriculture Office (CAO) and the Bantay Ilog Task Force have already dismantled 165 units covering a total of 5.43 hectares.
From July 2013 to October 27, the CAO and the Bantay Ilog Task Force have already dismantled around 664 units covering a total land area of 97.96 hectares. PNA-northboundasia.com