By HENRY EMPEÑO | Subic Bay Freeport

THE Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has started dismantling huts and other structures in illegal settlements built by some farmers and local tribesmen at the Tipo area here, as it vowed to protect government interest from encroachment in this economic growth area.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the agency carried out its demolition order last Tuesday, April 13, at a newly-cleared forest area occupied by illegal settlers near the Subic Freeport Expressway (SFEX) tunnel.

Eisma also said the SBMA had served a “notice to vacate” on April 12 to farmers who have started a new settlement at Lot 2, another government property located at the foothills of Mt. Sta. Rita, also in Tipo.

Tipo, which is the location of the eight-kilometer SFEX and some industrial park projects, is a village within Hermosa, Bataan, and adjoins Dinalupihan town and Brgy. New Cabalan in Olongapo City.

Eisma said that in late February, inspectors from the SBMA Ecology Center discovered the illegal clearing near SFEX, which consisted of some huts built in a 500-square meter area that straddled the proposed rail alignment for the planned Subic-Clark Railway Project.

Ecology Center manager Amethya Dela Llana said a check with the Kalayaan Ayta community revealed that the unauthorized clearing was made by a group of tribesmen from the Iram Resettlement area in Olongapo City, prompting her office to refer the matter to Nestorio Pablo, the indigenous people’s representative to the Olongapo City council.

The notice sent to Pablo warned that the SBMA will demolish the huts and confiscate the felled bamboos, wood, and other building materials found in the area.

Eisma said that while the newly-discovered illegal settlements were still uninhabited, the semi-concrete structures put up by settlers particularly at Lot 2, point to an intent for permanent occupancy.

She said the Subic agency gave the illegal settlers five days to remove their belongings at Lot 2 and to clear out of the area.

The SBMA notice was received by Wilson Villas, reportedly the vice chairman of the group Filipino Farmers Center Internazionale (FFCI), which already had a run-in with the SBMA over encroachment.

Eisma the SBMA had earlier filed a case in court against some 30 families affiliated with FFCI who have occupied Lot 12, an area at the boundary of the Subic Freeport and the Roosevelt National Park in Dinalupihan.

On Thursday, the SBMA chairman appealed anew to farmers and indigenous Ayta tribesmen to stop encroaching in government-administered land and clearing forests and building illegal settlements within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Eisma said the intrusion and introduction of unauthorized settlements violate the law, as well as an agreement between the Subic agency and the Ayta tribe on the use and disposition of tribal ancestral lands within the Freeport.

“Mapapagod lang po kayo sa paglilinis ng mga lupain at pagtatayo ng mga dampa kung labag naman sa batas ang inyong ginagawa. Babaklasin lang po ng mga may awtoridad ang inyong ginawa (Your efforts in clearing land and building shacks will simply be wasted if you’re activities are illegal. The authorities will simply dismantle what you build),” Eisma said.

“Matagal na pong may kasunduan tungkol sa mga lupaing katutubo dito sa Subic Freeport, at sana po ay sundin natin ito upang maiwasan ang kaguluhan (There has long been an agreement on the ancestral domain here in the Subic Freeport, and we hope you would honor it to avoid any problem),” she added.

Eisma also said the SBMA may be constrained to file more cases against illegal settlers in order to protect government interest over the properties. ~