LOCAL newspaper reports that the Awai lot in San Jacinto purchased by the city government in 2002 is covered by the comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP) and already subdivided among tenants of the land, has sent the city government of Dagupan scurrying to verify the alleged development.
City Mayor Alipio Fernandez immediately directed City Legal Officer George Mejia to gather all the necessary data concerning the status of the controversial city-owned lot in neighboring San Jacinto town.

Documents so far obtained by the city government reveal that on December 18, 2001, Estrella F. Sangalang, the original owner f the land, sold to Jose Mariano Cuña of Dagupan City a parcel of land of 299,932 square meters for the sum of P7,000,000.

Mejia explained that the sale was unknown to the tenants of the land who have been religiously paying their lease rentals to Sangalang. The sale was discovered by the tenants on February 2002 after the media reported on the future use of the land as a sanitary landfill.

On March 15, 2002, records show that the tenants who were deprived of their right of pre-emption filed a petition for redemption before the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) in Urdaneta City against Cuña, Sangalang and the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Mejia stressed that, unknown again to the petitioners, Cuña sold the same land to the city of Dagupan on April 11, 2002 for P16,000,000. The sale was discovered in the latter part of July 2002.

Consequently, the petition was amended on August 26, 2006 with the city government included as one of the respondents.

The city government however did not file its answer although it supposedly received a copy of the amended petition.

Mejia said that on July 3, 2003, a resolution was issued by the DARAB remanding the records of the case to the Department of Agrarian Reform Provincial Office Operations Division for administrative compulsory acquisition of the land pursuant to RA 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.

Records from DARAB show that there was no appeal or motion for reconsideration filed by the city government at that time, thus the resolution was made final and executory September 22, 2003.

On March 2, 2004, a Notice of Coverage was sent to the city government stating that the Awai lot is under the comprehensive agrarian reform program and the Land Bank of the Philippines is currently in the process of determining its land value.

Despite receipt of the notice of coverage, Mejia noted that the city government surprisingly did not avail of its right to apply for an exemption clearance or for exclusion from CARP coverage, retain an area of not exceeding 5 hectares pursuant to section 6 of RA 6657, and submit evidence for determining just compensation of the subject landholding.