Bacolod City – Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer-in-charge Engr. Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya recently said that the areas adjacent to the Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Barangay Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental, are titled properties.
Based on the cadastral survey of Murcia, Gerangaya said some of the titled properties are even dated 1916, or the pre-war period.
The disclosure was made by Gerangaya, following the purchase of the 11-hectare property by the provincial government, with the intention to further expand the facilities of the Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday that further improvements of the resort and wildlife sanctuary will be expected, after the provincial government of Negros Occidental finally secured a special patent title from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to legally claim the 24-hectare property formerly owned by the national government.
Lacson bared plans to put up additional luxury villas and open boat rides in the resorts’ lagoon to attract more tourists, noting that Negros Occidental is next to Boracay Island in terms of the number of tourist arrivals in Western Visayas.
Atty. Alberto Nellas, Provincial Legal Officer and concurrent officer-in-charge of the Provincial Administrator’s Office, yesterday said that the 11-hectare property at the upper portion of the resort and wildlife sanctuary, was purchased by the provincial government from Napoleon Ledesma for P9 million.
Gerangaya said there is no public land adjacent to the Mambukal resort. Even the seventh waterfalls and Graceland resort are titled properties, which is part of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, he added.
Mambukal was declared a town site on June 22, 1957 by Republic Act No. 1964 known as the “Act of Establishing Mambukal Town Site for Health Center and Recreation Resort Purposes,” he added.
With the turnover of the Special Patent Title to the provincial government, Lacson has reaffirmed the commitment of the provincial government to uphold Mambukal as a model of responsible stewardship and a source of pride for the present and future generations Negrenses.
A special patent title, under DENR Administrative Order No. 2025, “is a public instrument issued by the government confirming the grant by the State of the ownership over a parcel of agricultural land (alienable and disposable) in favor of a grantee.” (Gilbert Bayoran)