Kapatagan retains Banana Village

The decades-old deadlock between the local government of Kapatagan and the Philippine Army over who should rightfully occupy Banana Village is finally over.

The former army reservation which has served as dwellings of civilian families after being vacated by the soldiers in the late 80’s is officially reverted back to the local government. The Philippine Army , which has been asserting ownership rights over the place has agreed to accept the 7.8-hectare lot in Butadon as a swap to the contested Banana Village.

This agreement is contained in the August 19 memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by the LGU and the military. The MOA stipulated that the military shall cease claiming rights over Banana village on the one hand, while the LGU committed to provide an alternate lot, electric connection and opening of a road network in the proposed alternate lot, on the other.

This development came about after Mayor Benjie Y. Baguio exerted efforts to persuade military authorities under Philippine Army’s Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ebrado to agree on a land swap. Mayor Baguio and the military agreed that the village ceased to be fit for military purposes as its location is at the heart of Poblacion Kapatagan and is now mainly inhabited by civilian population.

But Mayor Baguio’s jubilation was not yet complete. After getting the nod from the military higher ups of the land swap, he had to face another block: how to acquire the needed funds to pay for the proposed land to be used as a swap considering that budget year is ending.

Mayor Benjie faced the Municipal Development Council and persuaded its members to realign a portion of the approved 2009 Municipal Development Fund to pay for the stated purpose. Convinced, the MDC immediately passed a resolution on June 22 realigning P1.7-million of the P13.9-million development fund which the Sangguniang Bayan members under Vice Mayor Perlito B. Gonzaga readily adopted.

The idea of a land swap started during the term of former Mayor Benny P. Baguio. But due to some political hitches during his term, the old Baguio who is now member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan did not see the completion of his initiatives. The young Baguio who builds on the dream of his father of making Kapatagan a regular city in the near future, carried on and make the dream materialize little by little.

The Banana village was proclaimed an army reservation in 1950’s. Then, there were only four civilian families residing in the area. They were the Quidato, Cabrera, Dagani and Gellica families who hailed from the Visayas. It became known as Banana village only in the early 80’s when the 40th Infantry Battalion moved in the area. It was retired Col. Lito P. Castillano, then battalion commander of the 40 IB who gave Banana village its name. “We call it as such because of the multitude of banana plants growing in this place then,” Castillano said.

Banana village is now home to more than 200 households. For a very long time, the residents stand on their lots without legal documents. Always insecure of their status, they could not proceed with the development of their respective houses.

Now that the lot is finally with LGU, residents are expecting that they will finally have their own papers for their lots. The LGU, on the other hand heads to hold consultations with various stakeholders to make occupancy in the village productive and smooth both for the present and future residents.