Survey of Tuba property to be exchanged with city finalized

The survey of the property of Tuba that will be exchanged for the city’s landholdings occupied by the municipal building and other portions of the municipality is now being finalized for presentation with the concerned parties for eventual approval, Rep. Mauricio G. Domogan said recently.

Domogan said that the final agreement between Baguio and Tuba officials on the settlement of the long standing boundary dispute is being awaited so that the technical description of the city’s metes and bounds as per their resolution will be the one that will be incorporated in the bill that he will file for the further revision of the City Charter to correct the earlier errors contained in Republic Act (RA) 11689 or the revised city charter that took effect in 2022.

The lawmaker proposed to Tuba officials that portions of the municipality be occupied by Pinewoods Golf and Country Club and the area occupied by the Sto. Tomas National High School will be ceded in favor of Baguio while the area occupied by the Tuba municipal hall and portions of Marcos Highway that are owned by Baguio will be ceded to Tuba to put an end to the long-standing boundary dispute between the two local governments.

He claimed that another matter that is being finalized by the city council for possible inclusion in the bill that will be filed is the proposed merger of the city’s barangays to conform with the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local Government Code which mandates that a barangay should have at least 5,000 inhabitants.

Earlier, the city government was of the position that since the area that will be turned over to Tuba is already developed, the area that should be given to the city should at least be developed to ensure that the deal will be fair.

The congressman pointed out that in fairness to Tuba, it was the municipality that worked for the development of the area owned by the city that it currently occupies and that the residents and businesses in the area had been transacting with the municipal government aside from paying taxes in the municipality based on Tuba’s prevailing revenue code.

According to him, the provision in the current city charter mandating the transmittal of approved ordinances to the Benguet provincial board for confirmation should be scrapped considering that the same virtually downgraded the city’s status as a highly urbanized city to a mere component city even if this provision is said to be a surplusage.

Domogan also explained that the provision providing for the townsite sales application (TSA) as a mode of land disposition in the city through public bidding should also be replaced by the miscellaneous sales application (MSA) or direct award of the alienable and disposable lands to qualified actual occupants to prevent them from being displaced by moneyed individuals who will outbid them once the lands will be auctioned.

He assured that the bill further revising the city’s charter will be filed soonest as soon as the important issues that were earlier raised shall have been addressed to ensure the speedy disposal of the proposed measure once subjected to committee and plenary debates in the House and Senate. – Dexter A. See