DENR forms panel to resolve Cebu City-Talisay border row

CEBU CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has created a technical committee to finally settle the territorial dispute between Cebu City and Talisay City over the South Reclamation Project here.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun said the creation of the panel is in line with the proposed establishment of the Cebu City South Reclamation Project as a special economic zone.

The committee will provide overall policy directions to the technical working group which, in turn, will determine the boundary in cooperation with the city governments of Talisay and Cebu.

The DENR’s survey team will provide technical assistance during the relocation survey of the political boundary monuments of the two cities.

The DENR has tapped the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority to conduct the survey which aims to relocate Municipal Boundary Marker (MBM) 30 and to find out if there is really an encroachment.

MBM 30, a boundary of Talisay City, is said to be where the South Reclamation Project oversteps.

In September 2003, Talisay City sponsored a survey which representatives from both cities took part in. In that survey, the team located and marked MBMs 27, 28, 29 and 30 in Talisay City.

The independent survey team then went to the places where these MBMs were marked to check if they were really in their exact positions.

So far, MBM 29, broken into parts by residents after it was rumored to contain treasure, is submerged in the San Roque creek during high tide. — Freeman News Service