BALANGA CITY, Bataan — Irked by the reported eviction of his constituents and alleged questionable titling of Bataan land by a powerful family, Governor Enrique “Tet” Garcia has asked Secretary Ramon Paje of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz to investigate the alleged summary eviction of settlers and the highly questionable titling of government land in Barangay Sumalo, Hermosa town.

In their response letters, copy of which were secured by this correspondent, Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh of DENR said that they have already referred the complaint of the governor to the Legal services of DENR for immediate appropriate action on the matter.

Usec Teh also requested DENR Assistant secretary Anselmo Abungan to directly inform the Solicitor General’s office and the Bataan governor on what action they are going to initiate on the said complaint and vowed to act with dispatch.

In his response letter to Gov. Garcia, Thomas M. Laragan, Assistant Sol Gen, also assured the Bataan governor that his office will act accordingly based on the recommendation of the DENR.

“We would like to inform you that we have already written DENR secretary Ramon Paje to request an investigation on the matter,” said Laragan in his letter to Gov. Garcia.

“There is already a progress on our complaint and we will also file criminal charges against the owner of the questioned lot,” said Garcia who had broken a history after winning few years ago a legal battle in SC, reversing a final and executory en banc decision of the highest court .

Noted for his pro-poor stand, Gov. Garcia said the residents of barangay Sumalo in Hermosa town have been residing in the area before the place was constituted into a barangay in 1957.

Earlier, Garcia said in his strongly worded letter to Paje and Cadiz that “Our people find it hard to un-derstand that after having devoted practically all their lives toiling on the land which they consider to be their own, some strangers from Forbes Park would suddenly appear and ask them to leave.”

For his part, Rene Rapisura, administrator of the Riverforest Development Corp., the company of the Litton family that owns a 213-hectare property in Barangay Sumalo, however, denied that there was a summary eviction, saying “everyone can see for themselves the normal and prevailing peace in Sumalo due to the initiatives they are pursuing with undocumented settlers in accordance with the ‘Sumalo Settlement Plan of 2011’.

“Ang totoo po, pagbibigay ng lot donation ang pinatutupad ng Riverforest para sa mga resident-settlers na ang buong akala nila ay walang nagmamay-ari ng lupain tinirahan o sinasaka nila,” Rapisura explained.

He added that based on geodetic and engineering surveys, the orderly fencing of the entire 213-hectare property was implemented through a Writ issued by Dinalupihan RTC Judge Jose Ener Fernando last January 27, 2011 which upheld the unequivocal ownership of the Litton family over the Sumalo estate thru a final decision of the Supreme Court on August 31, 2006.

“Unless this is promptly addressed, the possibility of a violent confrontation cannot be discounted considering that the people affected are increasingly becoming restive,” added the governor.