SITTING 1,675 meters above sea level, the mountain village of Malico is so cool that it’s generating a lot of heat between two provinces that claim jurisdiction over it.
Officially, Malico is part of San Nicolas town in Pangasinan, which Gov. Ramon Guico III says has historically been part of his province. In fact, the provincial government recently allocated P200 million for the development of a summer capital for tourists.
The plan, however, drew fire from Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Jose Gambito, who told The Manila Times that Guico’s announcement to allocate funds for various projects in Malico was “an attempt by the provincial government of Pangasinan to assert control over our very own Malico village.”
WHO OWNS IT? Map shows San Nicolas where Barangay Malico is located.
Gambito accused Pangasinan of squatting on Nueva Vizcaya, adding that Malico rightfully belonged to Nueva Vizcaya, as evidenced by the Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative, which is the sole source of electricity in Malico.
Gambito also challenged Guico to learn to speak the language of the Kalanguya tribe in Malico before claiming the village.
But Guico would have none of it.
“No, no (we are not squatting). Language is not the basis for you to say that the village is yours or not,” Guico said.
“My point is, Malico is Pangasinan’s. We never lost it to Nueva Vizcaya,” he added.
Instead of pursuing a “baseless claim” on the mountain village, he said, Gambito should match the P200 million that the Pangasinan provincial government allocated to Malico.
“We’re one people. We should find what’s good for our people. Pangasinan gave P200 million for the hundreds of constituents there. So, they (Nueva Vizcaya) should also spend the same amount of money there,” Guico told reporters here on Monday, July 29.
Guico said the road from Santa Fe town in Nueva Vizcaya was built first, giving Nueva Vizcaya easier access to Malico.
The 23-kilometer Pangasinan segment of the Villaverde Trail, which is now known as Pangasinan-Nueva Vizcaya Road, was opened only in 2020.
The road crosses the Caraballo Mountains from Barangay Santa Maria East in San Nicolas town to Barangay Imugan in the Nueva Vizcaya town of Santa Fe. The road was closed to motorists in the 1980s because of the difficulty of maintaining it, compounded by the low daily traffic.
Its condition worsened after the 1990 earthquake because of massive road slips and landslides that left most parts of the trail impassable.
Guico said that until now, public elementary and secondary schools in Malico belong to the second schools division of Pangasinan.
“When I was (Binalonan) mayor, I was told by the teachers there that it was hard for them to be assigned to Malico because they have to go through a different route and it takes a long time for them to travel. So, you see, even then, Malico was still in Pangasinan,” Guico said.
By car, Malico could be reached then from San Nicolas after a four-hour drive traversing the towns Tayug, San Quintin, and Umingan in Pangasinan, and Lupao town, and San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.
“We have identified Malico as one of the tourism sites of Pangasinan, and we’re putting in investments so that the people there will benefit. What’s wrong with that?” Guico said.
Guico also said Gambito should stop speculating that the Commission on Audit (CoA) would disallow the expense “because he’s not the CoA.”
“Malico is Pangasinan’s. That’s an established barangay. If you’re going to put money there, what’s wrong with that? They are the ones who are encroaching in Malico,” Guico said.
“And if they’re going to stop the P200 million that the province will allocate for the place, I don’t think that will do good for the people of Malico. Why would you stop a program or funding for various projects that are that big?” Guico added.
He said that with Malico now becoming a popular destination, building regulations should be in place.
“First of all, there are a lot of cliffs there. Who’s regulating the safety of the buildings there? The zoning? If they’re building on their own, if there are landslides and someone will die, who will be blamed?” Guico said.
He said he has asked San Nicolas Mayor Alice Enriquez to impose the building code and local zoning ordinance there to ensure safety in the area.
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