CITY Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. has ordered the city legal office to exert utmost efforts to recover the 30-hectare land bought by the past city administration in barangay Awai, San Jacinto in 2002 that may have already been awarded to tenants under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Finally breaking his silence over the issue, Fernandez ordered City Legal Officer George Mejia to file a motion for reconsideration over the ruling of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) that placed the 30-hectare property under CARP on July 3, 2003.

The ruling became final and executory on September 22, 2003 with the city government, then under Mayor Benjamin Lim, not filing a motion for reconsideration nor answering amended petition for redemption filed by the tenants on August 22, 2002.

The land was bought by the city for P16 million from one Mariano Cuna on April 11, 2002, at which time he was already a respondent in the original petition for redemption filed by the tenants on March 15, 2002.

Cuna bought the property on April 18, 2001 from Estrella Sangalang of San Jacinto or more than three months earlier.

Mejia admitted that he was told by the mayor to first write a letter to the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer to ask for reconsideration of the previous order placing the entire 30-hectare property under CARP.

“This will enable us to submit evidence for determining the just compensation of the subject landholding. If this will be rejected, we will study our next option,” said Mejia.

Mejia said the filing of cases against all those involved in the illegal transaction will be an option after the city shall have received a reply to its motion for reconsideration from the DAR.

“Mayor Fernandez sought that we first try to recover the property in its entirety and if this is not possible, to get the just value of the property and if this is not again granted, the filing of a case will be the next big step,” Mejia outlined the city’s moves.

On the other hand, City Administrator Alvin Fernandez said the city government will still assert its right over the 30-hectare property.

That is if the property was not yet given to the tenants who filed the petition for redemption before DARAB.

He opined that the question on whether the proper procedure was followed or not in the purchase of the property, is of no significance at the moment as the more important thing to do is to reacquire the land.