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Free land title recipients in Davao to rise by a third this year

Recipients of free land titles in Davao will increase by as much as one-third this year, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Davao region said Saturday.

The agency's region 11 office is set to issue a total of 6,637 residential free patents in 2012, up by 33 percent from last year’s total of 4,964 titles, DENR Region 11 Executive Director Jim Sampulna said.

These will be issued to residents who have occupied land for at least 10 years.

"We are going full blast in the implementation of Republic Act 10023, and I have already instructed our land officials to closely coordinate with the local government units so that they can inform their constituents about the program," he said.

Last year, the regional office was able to process and distribute 1,332 residential land titles in Davao Oriental, 1,001 in Davao del Norte, 1,429 in Compostela Valley, and 1,202 in Davao del Sur, or a total of 4,964 titles covering some 81 hectares, Sampulna said.

For 2012, the DENR-Region 11 is targeting to distribute some 1,577 titles in Davao Oriental, 1,200 in Davao del Norte, 1,500 in Compostela Valley, and 2,360 in Davao del Sur.

Enacted in March 2010, RA 10023, also known as the New Residential Free Patent Act, authorizes the issuance of free patents on residential lands, including town sites as defined under the Public Land Act.

The law states that any Filipino citizen who actually occupies a residential land for at least 10 years is qualified to apply for a residential free patent title, provided that the land applied for is not needed for public service or use.

The area should also not exceed 200 square meters in highly urbanized cities, 500 square meters in other cities, 750 square meters in first and second class municipalities, and 1,000 square meters in all other municipalities.

Documentary requirements include a plan based on the actual survey conducted by a licensed geodetic engineer and approved by the DENR, technical description of the land applied for, and supporting affidavit of two third-party persons residing in the village of the city or municipality where the land is located.

Applications shall be filed at the nearest Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) of the DENR, which is mandated to process the application within 120 days.

From the CENRO, the land patent application shall be endorsed to the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), which has five days to approve or disapprove the application.

Mati still red tide free-BFAR

In a latest shellfish bulletin released by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the Balite Bay in Mati, Davao Oriental continues to be free from toxic red tides despite isolated cases in some bays in the country where paralytic shellfish poison was found.

Other areas found safe to eat all types of shellfish are Cavite , Las Pinas, Navotas, Paranaque , Navotas and Bulacan in Manila Bay . It also includes Pangasinan, Masbate, Sorsogon, Puerto Princesa City , Panay, Roxas City , Capiz, Negros Occidental, Samar, Leyte, Surigao del Sur, and Camiguin Island .

However, identified areas positive for paralytic shellfish poison are the Dumanquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur, Murdelagos Bay in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Oriental, Masinloc Bay in Zambales, Bataan coastal waters, and Maturinao Bay in Eastern Samal.

The BFAR stressed that all types of shellfish and Acetes gathered from these areas are not safe for human consumption.

Some seafoods like fish, squids, shrimps, and crabs are safe provided that they are fresh and washed thoroughly and internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed before cooking.

P8.5-M road project in Davao Oriental to boost farmers’ income

TWO farm-to-market road projects worth P8.5 million were recently completed as part of the government’s effort to boost economic activity in Davao Oriental, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) announced.

Farmers belonging to the Lacambita or La Union, Cambaleon, Bitaogan, Talisay agrarian reform community in San Isidro, Davao Oriental along with other residents in the area stand to benefit from the two projects.

DAR Regional Director Datu Yusoph B. Mama said the road projects are vital components in the government’s drive to spur rural development in the agrarian reform community (ARC).

Mama said that the farmers would have greater flexibility in their dealings with traders, following the concreting of two farm-to-market roads namely the Junction National Hwy. to Talisay Rd. and the Bangkok 1 to Purok Dahlia Rd.

Some 3,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries now benefit from these roads. With their completion, there is now easier accessibility to the farms. Also, convenience in transporting agricultural and marine products has significantly improved.

Mama emphasized that one of the major goals of DAR is to improve farmers’ lives by increasing their income. “These roads will help realize that goal,” Mama said.

The farm-to-market roads were implemented under the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Projects and funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

'Small-scale miners in ComVal didn't heed warnings'

A slight tremor and continuous rains might have caused the landslide that killed at least 25 people and left 100 missing in Pantukan, Compostela Valley before dawn Thursday.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said rains for the past 2 weeks might have saturated the ground in Barangay Napnapan. That, coupled by a magnitude 3 quake that struck Davao Oriental at 12:01 a.m. Thursday might have caused the landslide.

"In our geohazard maps, the contributory factor to landslide is tremors. It's not just rains...Now because of rain, saturated na yung lupa and then there was a tremor. So nagkaroon ng sinking of the soil so bumigay na," he said in separate ABS-CBN interviews.

Small-scale miner Saul Pinggoy, a resident in Barangay Napnapan, said stones started hitting the roof of his house past 3 a.m. before the landslide hit. "Yung vibrations nung bato nagising kami dahil tumatama sa yero," he told radio dzMM.

He said his house was only 50 meters away from the area where the landslide hit at 3:45 a.m. He said the landslide could have covered at least 200 houses used by families of small-scale miners.

Paje said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) previously identified Purok Diat Uno and Diat Dos in Barangay Napnapan last December as extremely high risk to landslides.

He said another landslide hit the area last April 2011, killing at least 13 people.

He said geologists measured cracks on ridges on top of the mountain in Barangay Napnapan and found out that they were getting bigger.

"We have been giving warnings. We told them it was only a matter of time that this will give way and now bumigay na nga," he said.

Compostela Valley Gov. Arturo Uy said local officials heeded the call of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to evacuate residents in landslide-prone areas.

The problem, he said, is that residents kept returning because of a gold rush in Pantukan town.

"We ordered the miners to evacuate but siguro I think they went back to the mines. I think there is mining activity there again. I cannot monitor it all. The mayor of the municipality already ordered an evacuation. I have to investigate why they kept coming back," he said.

Asked if he would order a forced evacuation, he said: "Definitely."

Gold rush

Paje said a gold rush in Pantukan town has caused many small-scale miners in the province to conduct operations in the mountains, at the risk of their own lives. Earlier reports said miners could get as much as P1,900-P2,000 per gram of gold.

The environment chief said he surveyed Pantukan town before last April's landslide and found that the area is really like "a mountain full of holes made by small-scale miners."

"The houses there are almost permanent. Hindi na barung-barong," he said.

"They're like ants. Once people hear of a gold vein or a hit, they rush their without any force of mitigation, security or safety," he added.

Paje urged the local government prohibit the entry of new settlers in the landslide-hit area. He said this would prevent more miners to go there while local officials relocate the settlers in the danger zones.

He said the DENR has already stopped issuing environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) to small-scale mining operations in the area. This, however, has not stopped mining operations.

"Most of these operations are considered illegal already," he said.

The environment chief said he will also work for more detailed geo-hazard maps so that local government units would see the danger zones in their areas. He warned that the possibility of another landslide hitting Compostela Valley is higher because of higher precipitation brought by climate change.

"Landslides and flash floods are common all over the world but it is now getting more frequent. But if there are no people there, there would be no casualty," he said.

'Super heavy rains' in Mindanao feared

Mindanao has yet to recover from the destruction left by tropical storm “Sendong” and now comes another potential cyclone, which threatens to bring “super heavy rains” once it moves closer to the landmass in the region.

Weather forecaster Jori Loiz said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is now closely monitoring the potential cyclone east of Mindanao. He said the low-pressure area (LPA) was estimated 860 kilometers east of General Santos City as of 8 a.m. Monday.

PAGASA will be monitoring the possible intensification of the LPA into a tropical depression within the next 24 to 48 hours, Loiz said.

Once it develops into a tropical cyclone, it will be named “Ambo.”

“The LPA is still slightly far from the landmass, but there are already advance clouds that may bring moderate rains starting Monday afternoon in the eastern and southern part of Mindanao,” Loiz pointed out.

He noted that areas in the eastern and southern part of Mindanao that may experience moderate rains are Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

“But the periphery of the LPA is estimated at 10-20 mm per hour of rainfall, which is considered super heavy. The amount of heavy rains is estimated at 7.5 mm per hour,” Loiz said.

Meanwhile, a wind convergence also adversely affects Eastern Visayas.

The LPA and wind convergence will bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over the Visayas and Mindanao.

It will become cloudy with widespread rains over Eastern and Southern Mindanao, which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

As this developed, a P2-billion fund has been sought to be allocated for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City, which suffered the severest losses in lives and property during the onslaught of tropical storm “Sendong” last month.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (PMP, Cagayan de Oro City) and his brother, Rep. Maximo Rodriguez of Abante Mindanao party-list, called on the House of Representatives to act swiftly in passing House Bill No. 5663, which they jointly filed on Monday, to allocate the fund.

Judging by the destruction brought by the storm, a P2-billion fund will be needed to put the two Mindanao cities back to its feet again, the two solons said.

The Philippine Red Cross, meanwhile, said it will provide 1,000 shelters for families displaced by “Sendong” after it received a five-hectare land donated by Xavier University to the affected families through the PRC.

Last Dec. 29, PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon and Xavier University Chairman Elpidio Paras led the groundbreaking rites at the Xavier compound in Barangay Lumbia in Cagayan de Oro.

A total of 1,000 shelters will be built by the PRC initially as soon as basic facilities and provision of livelihood is available.

Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Jejomar C. Binay has directed the National Housing Authority (NHA) to hasten the provision of housing assistance to families affected by Sendong in Cagayan de Oro (CDO), Iligan, and Dumaguete.

The NHA has already allocated P20 million for the implementation of the Cagayan de Oro Resettlement Project Phase II in Barangay Calaanan. Site inspection and evaluation is also being conducted in CDO Resettlement Project Phase III, a 42-hectare property located in Gusa, CDO, and Sitio Culago, Barangay Pagapat also in CDO City as proposed permanent resettlement sites for the Sendong-affected families.

In Iligan City, a 10-hectare LGU-owned property has been identified as a possible housing project that can generate 1,166 homelots.

Pasig City Mayor Roberto Eusebio said a 10-man team from the Pasig City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office or (PDRRMO) left on Monday for Cagayan de Oro to distribute relief goods and medicines to “Sendong” victims.

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