NOW, the city government of Dagupan is finding out just how convoluted the issue on massive illegal squatting in the beachland of Bonuan could get.

One indication of this is the fact that despite 93 tax declarations having already been verified by the city assessor’s office — out of over a hundred parcels of land that were first tagged for rechecking — not a single tax declaration has been nullified or cancelled – yet.

Perhaps it is the more prudent course to take, especially with a court suit filed by some of the claimants including Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay, questioning a request of City Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr. to the Dagupan Electric Corporation to have the electrical connections of the alleged illegal structures there cut.

Decorp took the move of issuing notices of disconnection to the said complainants following the city’s cancellation of all waivers issued by the past Lim administration which were used by the land claimants to secure electrical connections for their establishments and structures.

The last thing many concerned city residents want to see in this whole messy issue is for a stalemate to develop again – where the first casualty would be not just the city government’s face but also, and more critically, the integrity of public domain, that is the foreshorelands, whose continued rape in many parts of the country, not just in Dagupan, has become a crying shame.

We hope the courts can resolve the case soonest to determine how far the government battle to fight illegal squatting can go for the guidance of all concerned.