DPWH won’t pay P10M, insists lot claimant has no legal basis

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways-7 is not going to pay for the P10 million being asked for by the owner of a lot whose property on the Ili Rock in Boljoon was allegedly quarried by the agency.

DPWH-7 Director Ador Canlas, in a letter sent to Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente, asserted that the claim of Teofilo Silagan, a retired Armed Forces of the Philippines doctor and owner of lot No. 816 in Barangay Poblacion, has no legal basis so the agency cannot heed the demand.

DPWH-7 legal officer Brando Ray Raya said there is also no sufficient evidence that the land upon which the excavation was undertaken is owned by Silagan as the retired colonel only submitted a tax declaration.

“It is very well-settled that tax declarations are not conclusive evidence of ownership of the right to possess land,” he added.

He further contended that the subject lot cannot be privately owned because it has been classified as timberland. Under the law, only alienable lands of the public domain, not timberlands, can be privately owned.

Raya added that the subject land is still covered by the salvage zones as provided for under the Water Code of the Philippines, because it adjacent to the sea as reflected on the subdivision sketch plan.

The law provides for the forest lands near margins of the seashores are subject to the easement of public use and a salvage zone of 40 meters. Any person is prohibited from staying in this zone or building structures of any kind.

Raya also said there was no sufficient, factual and legal basis as to how the amount being demanded as just compensation was computed.

“It is a fundamental principle in financial transaction and operations of any government agency that ‘no money shall be paid out of any public treasury of depository except in pursuance of an appropriation law or other specific statutory authority.’ Hence, there is no appropriated amount covering the subject claim,” he said.

DPWH undertook an earth removal within the Ili Rock after it was damaged by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that jolted Cebu and Bohol in October 2013.

Marlon Marollano, chief, planning and design section of the DPWH, said a huge area of the Ili Rock collapsed and rendered the national road impassable. It took their office 13 hours to clear the area.

He added that after an evaluation of the Ili Rock, they found out there was imminent danger to the public since there were several huge cracks that may cause a collapse anytime. This prompted them to request for a fund allocation of P43.6 million for the slope benching and widening to eliminate the cracked section.

The project was started August 4 last year. — (FREEMAN)