Caloocan seeks TRO over village flooding

MANILA, Philippines — Mayor Oscar Malapitan has asked the Caloocan Regional Trial Court to stop a real estate developer from allegedly dumping soil on a creek in Pangarap Village and flooding the area.

According to a petition for a temporary restraining order and writ of prelimary injunction filed on Nov. 23, the city’s environment management department wrote to Carmel Development Inc. (CDI) to “cease and desist from occupying and obstructing the creek and the easement areas” and to “restore the creek…to its original condition.”

The backfilling of the 1.2-kilometer creek, which drains into the Marilao River, continued at the height of Typhoon Rolly on Nov. 1, according to the petition. At least 400 meters of the creek, its bed and banks have been filled with soil, it added.

The city government accused CDI of deliberately flooding Pangarap Village.

The city government said that CDI could not occupy the creek, which is part of the city’s public domain.

Malapitan has sided with Pangarap Village residents in the years-long dispute over the property that became a resettlement area by virtue of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ presidential decree.?

The Supreme Court declared the decree as unconstitutional in 1988, making CDI the registered owner of the property. The city government said “there are existing legal disputes between CDI and?the awardees and occupants of Pangarap Village.”?

The STAR has called the law firm that represents CDI and is awaiting its response.