LLDA to go after land speculators

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) has formed a technical-legal group that will go after land speculators and syndicates engaged in the illegal titling of lands along the lakeshore area of Laguna de Bay.

LLDA general manager Casimiro A. Ynares III said the primary role of the group is to protect the lakeshore area which cannot be titled since it is 12.5 meters below lake level.

Ynares said protecting the lake buffer zone is the primary responsibility of the six-member group composed of technical and legal experts. The group is composed of engineers Oliver Barbosa, Victoriano Mesina, Jorge Garcia, and Karen Villaluna, lawyer Doroty Vazquez and Marian Soriano.

The group will coordinate with LLDA special concerns division, the Land Management Bureau, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) head office and other government agencies including the Land Registration Authority and local government units (LGUs). The group will also make recommendations on what titled properties should be reverted back to its public domain status.

Ynares said he will request for a moratorium on the issuance of tax declaration certificates from the LGUs.

DENR regional director Antonio Principe of Region IV and Corazon Davis of National Capital Region (NCR) had expressed support to the LLDA’s environmental programs, most recent of which pertains to the inventory of titled and untitled parcels in the shoreland cities and towns in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna.

Ynares said the LLDA is seriously considering the acquisition of a geographical positioning system (GPS) that will allow the LLDA to easily identify land areas that are under question. GPS is an automated mapping system using modern day computer technologies.

"Part of our duty to protect, preserve and promote sustainable development of Asia’s second largest freshwater basin is to make sure that all the area under its territorial jurisdiction remains intact. Lakeshore parcels are buffer zones that largely affect the environmental quality of the Laguna de Bay," Ynares said.