By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Several beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) surfaced yesterday afternoon, urging the National Housing Authority (NHA) to conduct an investigation over the anomalous cancellation of their Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) in Bacolod City’s Barangay Felisa.

They are also urging the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to halt the transaction with a certain Eduardo Lopingco as to the purchase of the lots which will be used as NHA housing.

In a letter to NHA General Manager Marcelino Escalada, Jr., the CARP beneficiaries knew very well that CLOA-13 had been cancelled without any payment of Real Property Tax, Payment of Certificate Authorizing Registration.

There is also no consent from them as it was cancelled without clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

“If such allegations are true then this cancellation of their CLOA is highly irregular, arbitrary, and illegal,” they pointed out.

The wife of one of the CARP beneficiaries identified as Mila Gubat claimed that her husband Roberto Gubat owns Lot #5 at Hacienda Edmar in Barangay Felisa.

According to Mila, she was approached by Lopingco offering P500,000 for the lot, of which she said she only received P300,000 with Lopingco claiming that the P200,000 will be paid for land tax and DAR clearance.

However, it was later found that the lot in question and the lots #8 and #6 have no DAR clearance.

Furthermore, since the lands in question are part of the CARP, beneficiaries are unable to sell the property since it was given to them by the government.

Because of this, Gubat is calling on the local government unit of Bacolod City not to push through with the construction of the socialized housing on the lots.

The lots are said to be part of the state-owned Social Housing Finance Corp. which would develop a P185.6 million housing project for a group of City Hall employees./DGB, WDJ