CLARK FREEPORT—Another territorial dispute has surfaced in Clark’s new growth area, dubbed the Next Frontier, as the Mabalacat local government in Pampanga asserted before the provincial board its claims over two villages in Bamban, Tarlac.
Mayor Marino Morales furnished the provincial board a copy of Resolution No. 156 through which the local government wants Barangays San Vicente and Sto. NiHo in Bamban to be annexed to Mabalacat.
At the request of Morales, the provincial board also postponed its Wednesday meeting with the Tarlac provincial board. The joint session would have tackled the appeal of Bamban Mayor Leonardo Anuncacion to set aside a joint resolution of the provinces that agreed to bring the territorial dispute over Barangay Calumpang in Mabalacat to a court.
Bamban has been claiming Calumpang since 2006.
Anuncacion did not reply to text messages and calls from Punto Central Luzon.
The crux of the conflict stems from the two percent share of local governments in the gross income earnings of locators.
In the resolution, the Mabalacat council said Map Survey SWO-0003-000083 done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from 1979 to 1981 for the Sacobia Resettlement Project north of Clark had established that the two villages fall within the jurisdiction of Mabalacat.
The villages are within the 3,325-hectare area of the 5,724 hectares allotted to the Sacobia Development Authority including Calumpang, Marcos Village and Sitio Haduan, also in Mabalacat.
The Mabalacat council began asserting in 1996 its jurisdiction over the 3,325 hectares through Resolution No. 42 that endorsed Presidential Proclamation No. 805 and Executive Order No. 344 of President Fidel Ramos. These redefined the areas of what was then the Clark Special Economic Zone to include the 5,724 hectares which are also known as Sacobia.
Sacobia was among the baselands that the United States returned to the Philippine government in 1979. The US military previously used Sacobia for jungle training with Aetas as mentors in survival skills.
The council’s Resolution No. 42-A also specified the conditions it requested in its endorsement of the proclamation on the re-annexation of Sacobia to the CSEZ.
In 1998, the council issued Resolution No. 1 to again assert its right over the 3,325 hectares in Sacobia.
Sacobia is now part of the Next Frontier, a 10,000-hectare industrial-tourism complex that the state-owned Clark Development Corp. is developing with Aeta tribes in Mabalacat and Bamban that hold a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title over the same area.
The Next Frontier is being developed as all lands in the 4,400-hectare freeport have become limited due to rapid investment influx.
CDC president Benigno Ricafort said the two territorial disputes would “not affect” the Next Frontier program.
“The issue is political jurisdiction which is being resolved by the two towns as well as the provincial governments of Pampanga and Tarlac,” he said.
“Whether it’s Mabalacat or Bamban, the locators can always put the municipal share in an escrow account until the boundary issue is resolved,” Ricafort explained.
Mayor Marino Morales furnished the provincial board a copy of Resolution No. 156 through which the local government wants Barangays San Vicente and Sto. NiHo in Bamban to be annexed to Mabalacat.
At the request of Morales, the provincial board also postponed its Wednesday meeting with the Tarlac provincial board. The joint session would have tackled the appeal of Bamban Mayor Leonardo Anuncacion to set aside a joint resolution of the provinces that agreed to bring the territorial dispute over Barangay Calumpang in Mabalacat to a court.
Bamban has been claiming Calumpang since 2006.
Anuncacion did not reply to text messages and calls from Punto Central Luzon.
The crux of the conflict stems from the two percent share of local governments in the gross income earnings of locators.
In the resolution, the Mabalacat council said Map Survey SWO-0003-000083 done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from 1979 to 1981 for the Sacobia Resettlement Project north of Clark had established that the two villages fall within the jurisdiction of Mabalacat.
The villages are within the 3,325-hectare area of the 5,724 hectares allotted to the Sacobia Development Authority including Calumpang, Marcos Village and Sitio Haduan, also in Mabalacat.
The Mabalacat council began asserting in 1996 its jurisdiction over the 3,325 hectares through Resolution No. 42 that endorsed Presidential Proclamation No. 805 and Executive Order No. 344 of President Fidel Ramos. These redefined the areas of what was then the Clark Special Economic Zone to include the 5,724 hectares which are also known as Sacobia.
Sacobia was among the baselands that the United States returned to the Philippine government in 1979. The US military previously used Sacobia for jungle training with Aetas as mentors in survival skills.
The council’s Resolution No. 42-A also specified the conditions it requested in its endorsement of the proclamation on the re-annexation of Sacobia to the CSEZ.
In 1998, the council issued Resolution No. 1 to again assert its right over the 3,325 hectares in Sacobia.
Sacobia is now part of the Next Frontier, a 10,000-hectare industrial-tourism complex that the state-owned Clark Development Corp. is developing with Aeta tribes in Mabalacat and Bamban that hold a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title over the same area.
The Next Frontier is being developed as all lands in the 4,400-hectare freeport have become limited due to rapid investment influx.
CDC president Benigno Ricafort said the two territorial disputes would “not affect” the Next Frontier program.
“The issue is political jurisdiction which is being resolved by the two towns as well as the provincial governments of Pampanga and Tarlac,” he said.
“Whether it’s Mabalacat or Bamban, the locators can always put the municipal share in an escrow account until the boundary issue is resolved,” Ricafort explained.
