DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 October)—A city councilor here is calling for an investigation on the increase in the number of illegal settlers in a watershed area near Tamugan River in Tugbok District following reports that its water level has gone down recently.
Tamugan River in Tugbok District. MindaNews file photo
Councilor Temujin “Tek” Ocampo, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, asked why the settlers have gone past the checkpoints when the area in Sitio Kalatong, Barangay Carmen is supposed to be a protected zone.
Ocampo, who visited the area last October 20, told MindaNews in an interview after the SP session Tuesday that he is initiating a committee hearing, noting that about 130 illegal settlers have already moved in the watershed area.
He said that in his ocular inspection, there were “no trespassing, private property” warning signs displayed outside houses. He noted that there were farmlands, too, that have caused deforestation.
The environment group Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), in a statement in 2021, already raised the alarm over the “clearing of forested areas in Sitio Kalatong… The forested area is considered a significant part of Panigan-Tamugan Watershed, the City’s future source of drinking water.”
The watershed protection ordinance of the city, promulgated in 2007, lists Tamugan River as among the six rivers included in the watershed areas, and the areas around it are thus part of the protected zone where large-scale domestic activities are prohibited.
“We’re still in the process of consolidating information regarding these as we’re planning to conduct a committee hearing to identify the people behind this. Why are the people there so bold? That only means someone is supporting them,” Ocampo said in the vernacular.
There has been no date set for the committee hearing yet.
The councilor said he will push for a demolition of the structures in Sitio Kalatong and eject the illegal settlers there, and for the local government to conduct a reforestation program.
“Actually, I received information that there was already a demolition order from the LGU. the only problem is this was not yet enforced. I don’t know why,” he said.
Ocampo said that if demolition is pursued, there would be no relocation of the settlers as they are originally from the downtown area who only sought to own extra lands in Sitio Kalatong.
Along with the Bantay Bukid, the Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) headed by Colonel Angel Sumagaysay is working to maintain the law and order in the area and to ensure the safety of volunteers, Ocampo said.
Peg-Buyyahon Rodolfo M. Mande, the Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR) to the city council, said that his office is in talks with the tribal leaders to educate the settlers not to exploit the place as it is declared to be a protected area and at the same time an ancestral domain.
He noted that the illegal settlers were not indigenous people, but “they have been living in the area for quite some time now and paid for their lots.” (Miah Christine Bontilao / MindaNews)
