| Congress
excludes Dapdap resettlement site from
Clark ecozone; 3,500 families to be
awarded with land titles By
RACHELLE TAYONG
BAMBAN — Over 3,500 families
displaced by the eruption of the Mt.
Pinatubo eleven years ago who were
relocated at the upland western end of
this town may soon finally call their
resettlement houses "Home Sweet
Home."
This, after Congress proclaimed that
the land covered by the Dapdap
resettlement site will be for housing
purposes, effectively making it possible
for the relocated families to have land
titles for lots in the area built with
resettlement houses.
Dapdap was under the Sacobia economic
sub-zone of the Clark special economic
zone (CSEZ), which, under Republic Act
7227, otherwise known as the Bases
Conversion Development Act (BCDA),
exercises jurisdiction over the area.
But with the act of Congress, which
was undertaken last August 12, the
resettlement site is now excluded from
the ecozone, making it alienable and
disposable in favor of the relocated Mt.
Pinatubo victims.
The Dapdap resettlement site is one of
the original sites for a massive housing
project launched by the government
shortly after countless families in
Central Luzon were displaced by the
volcanic eruption and the accompanying
devastating flow of volcanic debris.
It commenced development from 1992 to
1993 by the Task Force Mt. Pinatubo, the
predecessor of the defunct Mt. Pinatubo
Commission (MPC) that was created by
former President Corazon Aquino.
It was during the Ramos administration
when the MPC was created, but this was
dissolved at the turn of the millennium.
Resettlement sites for Mt. Pinatubo
victims are now under the joint
supervision of their respective host
municipalities and provinces, together
with the Housing and Urban Development
Coordinating Council-Pinatubo Project
Management Office (HUDCC-PPMO).
The offices of Tarlac Gov. Jose Yap
Sr. and this town’s Mayor Leonardo
Anunciacion, the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
Bases Conversion Development Authority
(BCDA) and the HUDCC-PPMA have formed an
inter-agency committee that will oversee
the processing of land titles for the
settlers at the Dapdap resettlement site.
There are still at least three other
major resettlement sites for Mt. Pinatubo
victims in the province where relocated
families are waiting to be awarded with
land titles for their homelots, namely,
the O’Donnell and Kalangitan
resettlements in Capas town, and the
upland Dueg resettlement in San Clemente.
Kalangitan and Dueg are home to mostly
Aeta families displaced by the volcanic
eruption and lahar flows.
|
