Uy: The land was converted for commercial-industrial purposes

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A San Carlos City businessman accused of land grabbing surfaced yesterday to present proof he legally acquired property that is currently being claimed by several farmers’ groups in the city.

Sugar planter Wellington Uy provided a copy of a 1980 resolution passed by the San Carlos City Sangguniang Panlungsod that converted a seven-kilometer area along the national highway for commercial-industrial purposes, which includes properties he acquired.

He pointed out, the ordinance states the residents of the area in question are not Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) beneficiaries.

Uy asserted, the ordinance proves the city government converted the land and not himself, as earlier reports suggested.

He also showed documents that indicate Hacienda Medina, which includes some of the land in question, located in the city’s Barangay Rizal, is not covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Last May, the Cadiz City Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) also certified the area is exempt from land acquisition and distribution.

In an interview, Uy disclosed the property of a certain Domingo Medina were foreclosed upon by the Philippine National Bank, who, based on documents dated July 14, 2015, sold the property to him.

The bank then sent eviction notices to residents of the area.

With regard to reports the properties are currently owned by the claimants by virtue of the Regional Trial Court-Branch 59 dismissing the case Uy filed against them, he argued, the grounds for dismissal was not an ownership issue but that he had yet to fully pay for the properties and the filing was deemed premature.

The businessman added, the Department of Public Works and Highways has also sent notices to a number of claimants requesting they vacate the area.

Earlier, the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) accused Uy of land grabbing as well as being behind the murder of local NFSW leader and radio anchor Julius Broce Barellano.

However, San Carlos City police have not named Uy as a suspect.

Police have yet to resolve the incident and are still looking at the possibilities of a land conflict, personal grudge, or his position as a local radio reporter as motives./DGB, WDJ