Photo courtesy Rappler
FOR the longest time, the Office of the Ombudsman has been used as a platform for harassment against public officials who have refused to cave in to pressure or can’t seem to please everyone to the very least – in this case, assertion of private interest over easements.
In what appears to be one of those cases designed to pin down local officials who made a firm conviction that easements could not possibly be a private property, the Office of the Ombudsman reaffirmed its first resolution junking three charges – graft, grave conduct and abuse of authority – filed against former Angono, Rizal Mayor Gerardo Calderon.
In its nine-page resolution, the Office of the Ombudsman cited Presidential Decree 1067 which provides 20-meter easement of each side of rivers and creeks, and 40-meter easement for bays and lakes, “could not possibly be owned by a private corporation or an individual.”
PD 1067, which was issued December 31, 1976 by the late former strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (father of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos), instituted the Water Code of the Philippines, providing for the utilization, exploitation, development, conservation, and protection of water resources to be subject to the control and regulation of the government through the National Water Resources Board (formerly referred to as National Water Resources Council).
The case stemmed from the construction of what is now referred to as the Angono Lakeside Park, a local government-initiated project which attracts foreign and local tourists with a nature adventure by the side of the majestic Laguna de Bay.
Records showed that the complainant Cecilia Del Castillo accused Calderon (in his capacity as mayor), of encroaching on her property to construct the Lakeside Eco-Park at the easement of the Laguna de Bay sometime in 2017.
However, a closer look by the Office of the Ombudsman into the area being claimed by Del Castillo proved otherwise – the area she claimed as part and parcel of her property is actually covered by the law protecting easements.
On Del Castillo’s allegation that it was then Angono Mayor Calderon who authorized squatter families to occupy her property, the Ombudsman – which did its own investigation – found out that it was the complainant’s caretaker who “sold and leased” the land to the informal settlers, at cost.
“Wherefore, the complaints against respondent Gerardo Villamarin Calderon are dismissed for lack of merit,” reads the closing part of the resolution.
