THE city government’s campaign against illegal squatters at beach lots in Bonuan Binloc is taking aggressive swings against all those involved in the land anomaly.

A member of the Task Force on Housing and Urban Poor Resettlement echoed late last week the notice given by the task force chairman, City Engineer Virginia Rosario, that demolition of all illegal structures at the beach is being readied even as a legal team is checking out the documents of those engaged in the illegal occupancy of beachlots.

Former Councilor Alex De Venecia, a member of the task force, said Executive Order No. 66 issued by Mayor Alipio Fernandez dated December 4, 2007 virtually broke the back of squatting in public lands in Dagupan City by rich and influential persons.

The task force recently put up a giant billboard in Bonuan warning people that the beach land there is not for sale.

The move was undertaken due to the unrelenting construction of illegal structures in the beach by holders of tax declarations who are mostly rich people from Manila, Baguio and La Union.

De Venecia said three women came to him recently volunteering to execute affidavits naming the persons behind the illegal land transactions.

The task force recalled that even the DENR is discouraging the rampant use of tax declarations as a means of proving actual ownership of parcels of land.

Through their tax declarations which they obtained from the Dagupan City Assessors Office over the years, people built illegal structures in public lands here which they were claiming as their own.