• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The areas adjacent to the Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Barangay Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental are titled properties, according to Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office officer-in-charge Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya.
Gerangaya said on Tuesday (July 15) that based on the cadastral survey of Murcia, some of the titled properties even date back to 1916 or the pre-war period.
The confirmation came following the provincial government’s purchase of the 11-hectare property of Napoleon Ledesma to further expand the facilities of the Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary.
Gerangaya said that there is no public land adjacent to Mambukal, noting that even the Seventh Falls and the Graceland View Resort are titled properties, which are part of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday that further development is expected after the provincial government finally secured a special patent title from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to legally claim 24 hectares of the resort property.
“We reaffirm our commitment to uphold Mambukal as a model of responsible stewardship and a source of pride for the present and future generations of Negrenses,” Lacson said.
Mambukal was declared a town site on June 22, 1957 by Republic Act No. 1964 otherwise known as the “Act of Establishing Mambukal Town Site for Health Center and Recreation Resort Purposes”. | GB
