BAGUIO CITY—Mayor Mauricio Domogan has warned individuals wanting to own real property in the city against buying lands located within the 92-hectare Baguio Dairy Farm because they might end up losing their hard earned money from enterprising land speculators and informal settlers.
Domogan admitted several individuals have sought out his advice regarding the legality of buying real estate within the Baguio Dairy Farm, now being sold left and right because of the impending demolition of the over 350 illegal structures built within the government property.
“We call on the public not to buy lands being sold by enterprising informal settlers in the Baguio Dairy Farm because the sale is illegal and in gross violation of existing laws, rules and regulations considering those selling have no actual proof of ownership of the properties they are actually selling,” he said.
He instructed the City Legal Office to set a meeting with the Office of the Solicitor-General, the court sheriff, officials of the agriculture department and other concerned offices of the local government to finalize the details on how to implement the demolition order against the informal settlers after it was upheld by a local court.
Domogan disclosed enterprising informal settlers are selling parcels of land and their shanties in the Baguio Dairy Farm to willing buyers for as low as P50,000.
Last year, the Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture, the City Government of Baguio and the Tuba Municipal government conducted a joint census of the illegal structures erected by informal settlers within the Baguio Dairy Farm after the decision of a local court upholding the issuance of a demolition order against them attained finality.
Domogan explained the sale of the illegally occupied lots within the government property had resulted in the alleged murder of one of the leaders of the informal settlers.
He said there was a need for the concerned government agencies to already enforce the demolition of the illegal structures to prevent more complicated problems that would arise in the future.
Earlier, the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor conducted a pre-demolition conference with the local government, the DA-CAR and the affected informal settlers in preparation for the eventual eviction of the illegal settlers who built their structures over portions of the government property.
Domogan urged individuals wanting to own real estate in the different parts of the city to validate the authenticity of the proof of ownership being shown to them by the sellers of the properties with concerned government agencies before shelling out their hard earned money to pay the lands to avoid complications in the ownership of such properties in the future.
