SAN FABIAN, Pangasinan—Professional squatters allegedly led by an influential village leader here continue to defy orders of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for them to vacate a big portion of a private property, including some portions of prime foreshore areas, they have “invaded” in the coastal barangay of Nibaliw Narvarte, this town.
The government order was issued by then-Environment Secretary Jose Atienza Jr. on December 16, 2009, but the squatters are not budging.
The area the illegal setters have occupied is a potential tourism spot near the beach head of the Lingayen Gulf. The site is being eyed by real-estate developers.
The group of illegal settlers organized into a “Narvarte Fisherfolks Association Inc.” Led by Nibaliw Narvarte Barangay Captain Recto U. Orjeda as the association’s president, with Fernando Abrio, Oscar Saplaco and Jerry Narvarte , all officers of the association, the group had earlier petitioned the DENR for a foreshore lease agreement (FLA) which the agency turned down for lack of merit.
Atienza had directed the Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (Cenro) based in Dagupan City to enforce the department order.
However, with the continued occupancy of Orjeda’s group with a membership that has ballooned to more than 400, it appears that nothing came out of the DENR official’s directive. Some of Orjeda’s group were able to secure tax declaration documents for each of the areas they had occupied, averaging 2 hectares each.
But following a complaint from lot owners of the 30-hectare property being “invaded” by the illegal settlers, the tax declaration documents were canceled by Pangasinan Provincial Assessor Nestor Quiambao who based his “notice of cancellation” on a lower court decision “affirmed by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.”
The group’s alleged modus operandi is to sell or lease the properties covered by the tax declarations.
Even some foreshore areas and private properties in nearby Barangay Bindang of this scenic coastal town are not spared by the group’s operations.
Informed of the group’s activities, Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. issued a memorandum ordering all coastal barangay captains in the province to “refrain from endorsing foreshore lease applications along the Lingayen Gulf Foresore Area and its Immediate Environs.”
The governor cited Memorandum Circular 98-202 of the Department of Interior and Local Government “enjoining all Punong Barangays to adopt measures relative to the proliferation of squatters in their respective jurisdictions.”
A local official who asked not to be identified said that the Narvarte Fisherfolk Association was also able to convince Rep. Gina de Venecia (Fourth District, Pangasinan) to allocate P1.5 million for the construction of a barangay road in the area.
The construction, however, was stopped as it was being done within the 30-hectare private property.
