DINALUPIHAN, Bataan – Mayor Joel Payumo on Thursday urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to stop hundreds of illegal settlers from continuously occupying portions of the Roosevelt National Park, one of only two protected areas in Bataan.
The mayor said the squatters settled in the area starting early part of March this year and their number increasing. Some have built houses made of concrete hollow blocks.
He said that the park is a rare protected area with more than 200 hectares of forested part.
Payumo said the municipal government has already given DENR barbed wires to fence the entrance and exit points of the squatted portions of the park. They are also willing to provide police security.
“If additional police officers are needed, DENR can request from the regional or provincial police commands,” the mayor said.
Lawyer Ricardo Lazaro, provincial environment and natural resources officer, said they have filed a case against four leaders of the illegal settlers allegedly led by Victor Rotairo, a former member of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit or CAFGU.
He said that they wanted the leaders jailed to discourage others. He estimated that about 400 illegal settlers are occupying the park. The settlers said there are more than 1,600 of them.
The PENRO said that squatting or maintaining any structure in the Roosevelt National Park is punishable of one to six years imprisonment and a fine of P1,000 to P500,000. Lazaro said they have tried convincing the squatters to leave without using violence like demolishing the structures by force.
But he said that with the assistance of the police, they will soon demolish all illegal structures and fence the prohibited area to stop the squatters from continuously occupying the park.
The Roosevelt National Park is one of only two protected areas in the province. The other one is the Bataan Natural Park.
Rotairo, a native of Alfonso, Cavite, said there are more than 1,600 settlers in the area belonging to the New Barangay Green Valley Homeowners Association which he heads. He said the settlers mostly coming from Dinalupihan and some from nearby Olongapo City occupy 150 square meters of land each in less than 20 hectares in the park.
But Mayor Payumo said the illegal settlers are not from Dinalupihan.
Rotairo, 52, claimed that the settlers are mostly former members of the CAFGU like him. “Hinihiling ko kay Pangulong Noynoy na ibigay na ang lupang ito ng gobyerno sa mga mahihirap na katulad ko. Maawa na kayo lalo na sa mga taong nakatira sa ilog at mga nangungupahan lamang,” the leader of the settlers said.
“Pangulong Noynoy, sana ibigay mo na sa amin ang lupang ito,” men and women settlers asked soon to be proclaimed Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino. “Gusto ko lang magkaroon ng lupa dahil nangungupahan lamang kami,” said a male occupant allegedly from Olongapo City.
They built huts/structures in three or four hills beneath trees and some by the slopes. They made a long stairs curved from soil to comfortably climb and go down the forested hills where many huts are also located.
Gusto naming maging amin na ang lupang ito,” a 70-year old woman said.
The mayor said the squatters settled in the area starting early part of March this year and their number increasing. Some have built houses made of concrete hollow blocks.
He said that the park is a rare protected area with more than 200 hectares of forested part.
Payumo said the municipal government has already given DENR barbed wires to fence the entrance and exit points of the squatted portions of the park. They are also willing to provide police security.
“If additional police officers are needed, DENR can request from the regional or provincial police commands,” the mayor said.
Lawyer Ricardo Lazaro, provincial environment and natural resources officer, said they have filed a case against four leaders of the illegal settlers allegedly led by Victor Rotairo, a former member of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit or CAFGU.
He said that they wanted the leaders jailed to discourage others. He estimated that about 400 illegal settlers are occupying the park. The settlers said there are more than 1,600 of them.
The PENRO said that squatting or maintaining any structure in the Roosevelt National Park is punishable of one to six years imprisonment and a fine of P1,000 to P500,000. Lazaro said they have tried convincing the squatters to leave without using violence like demolishing the structures by force.
But he said that with the assistance of the police, they will soon demolish all illegal structures and fence the prohibited area to stop the squatters from continuously occupying the park.
The Roosevelt National Park is one of only two protected areas in the province. The other one is the Bataan Natural Park.
Rotairo, a native of Alfonso, Cavite, said there are more than 1,600 settlers in the area belonging to the New Barangay Green Valley Homeowners Association which he heads. He said the settlers mostly coming from Dinalupihan and some from nearby Olongapo City occupy 150 square meters of land each in less than 20 hectares in the park.
But Mayor Payumo said the illegal settlers are not from Dinalupihan.
Rotairo, 52, claimed that the settlers are mostly former members of the CAFGU like him. “Hinihiling ko kay Pangulong Noynoy na ibigay na ang lupang ito ng gobyerno sa mga mahihirap na katulad ko. Maawa na kayo lalo na sa mga taong nakatira sa ilog at mga nangungupahan lamang,” the leader of the settlers said.
“Pangulong Noynoy, sana ibigay mo na sa amin ang lupang ito,” men and women settlers asked soon to be proclaimed Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino. “Gusto ko lang magkaroon ng lupa dahil nangungupahan lamang kami,” said a male occupant allegedly from Olongapo City.
They built huts/structures in three or four hills beneath trees and some by the slopes. They made a long stairs curved from soil to comfortably climb and go down the forested hills where many huts are also located.
Gusto naming maging amin na ang lupang ito,” a 70-year old woman said.
