A land grab that may kill a Community

[Jack Peterson]

 Today we heard that a very Greedy family have grabbed a Road from people that have used it for or 20 years. The Road is on Land that is to be bought by a local Businessman but will not Donate the 2.5 meters  of land for the Continued use by some 25 Families, a Court Ruling may well be sought if the Dumaguete Mayor can't or Won't intervene. This Road is a connecting road between the 2 barangay Roads we have in my Area, So if the Guy closes the Road to the bottom of the purok  all 4 wheel Traffic will have to gone down and Turn round to go back instead of Continuing down to the Barangay Road , Our Road is only 4 meters wide and 2 vehicles can't pass, so for years we have had a sort of one way circuit that has worked fairly well.

 The Mind Boggles here at times as we had to Donate 4 meters to the Barangay of the Road and that was in 2009 but now it seems Local Businessmen can do just whatever they want at the expense of the Community  we await the visit of the mayor on Tuesday 

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

Local Businessmen can do just whatever they want at the expense of the Community

I saw a similar thing happen when I lived in Liloan, Cebu.  L'Huillier was the business.  Nothing the mayor could do.  All they are legally required to do is give a half meter on the edge of their property for the locals to walk down.  So they gave a half meter and then built a huge wall around their new property.  The people on the other side of the line also gave a 1/2 meter so there is now a 1 meter wide trail to get to the houses in the back.  I was on the verge of buying a bit of property there when this happened and glad I didn't.  I know now why it was for sale in my price range.

[sonjack2847]

Seems to be a lot of confusion on land grabs like this as I always thought that after so many years the road became public property. I also thought that in this case land was donated for the road?

[robert k]

4 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

Seems to be a lot of confusion on land grabs like this as I always thought that after so many years the road became public property. I also thought that in this case land was donated for the road?

In the US, if it had been a road for 20 years it would be an open and shut case of easement by default. The owners didn't protest or fence it when the use first began and silence becomes permission. I would have some sympathy for the landowners if the "road" orphaned part of their property, which I would hope could be remedied by them donating enough land at the edge of their land for a new road.

Edited July 21, 2019 by robert k

[Mike J]

With 25 families involved it may end up being settled with violence.  Not uncommon here for land disputes to escalate to murder.

[Clermont]

I remember reading somewhere, that in the PI's, if a thoroughfare, ( Optimum word ) has been used or proven to be used for a set amount of time, the pedestrians  have legal right to continue using it, or given another alternative route of a no less strenuous route. Now in my mind Jack, a thoroughfare is for access only, not vehicles, so I don't think they could stop them in a court of law from closing down the thoroughfare for vehicles, I also think I read that it was something like the 2 meter access rule applied, that is why they can't close it down  for access. 

Tongue in check, did they name the section of the road you donated, after you or your family.