A verbal tussle between two Caloocan City officials erupted as they tried to defend their own actions regarding their handling of concerns of Pangarap Village residents.

Mayor Oca Malapitan, in a video taken while he was talking to Pangarap residents, accused Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Egay Erice of using the village residents for his own political advantage when the latter invited them when he held a privilege speech before the House of Representatives last year.

Erice, reacting to the video through another video posted on Nov. 9 by a certain Yuri Moral Vargas, took defense. He also said that Malapitan could have done more to address the residents' concerns but he did not.

This pertains to the decades-old dispute between Pangarap Village residents and a land developer who are both claiming the rights over the 156-hectare area, which already led to more problems such as alleged harassment and intimidation.

"Minsan nakakalungkot lang. Ginamit pa kayo ng congressman sa 2nd District. Nagpunta pa kayo doon sa Kongreso. Anong magagawa ng privilege privilege speech ng congressman nyo? Wala ho, pamumulitika lang. Pinagod lang kayo (Sometimes, it's saddening. You were used by the congressman of the 2nd District.  You even went to Congress. What would your congressman's privilege speech do? Nothing. Just for the sake of political ploy. You just got tired)," Malapitan told the residents.

The mayor also asked why Erice did not do something when "his friends," former President Benigno Aquino III and former Senator Mar Roxas were still in their seats in the government.

"Bakit hindi nya inayos ito? Ngayon pumoporma sya, inaayos nya kunyari. Pero wala hong mangyayari (Why didn't he fix it? Now, he's making a move, pretending to be doing something. But nothing will happen)," Malapitan said.

Taking defense, Erice said, he held a privilege speech before the Congress because several barangay officials sought his assistance.

"Sabi ni Mayor, namumulitika lang ho ako dahil nag privilege speech ako sa Kongreso. Alam nyo, di naman po ako kumikilos dito kung di lang nagpunta sakin yung barangay officials... (Mayor said that I was already doing it for politics because I held a privilege speech. You know? I would not do it if the barangay officials did not ask for my help)," Erice said.

"Sabi nila, binigay nila yung problema kay (1st District) Congressman Along (Malapitan) at hinihiling nila matagal na, taon na, na magprivilege speech tungkol dito sa Pangarap para maimbistigahan ng Committee on Justice (They said, they already sought the assistance of Congressman Malapitan to hold a privilege speech to investigate the concerns of the residents by the Committee on Justice)," he added.

Erice also reacted to the seemingly defeatist statement of Malapitan when he said that the local government could no longer do anything to Pangarap residents' concerns because the city has no more funds to expropriate the land and that the city already has received legal charges from the land developer.

"Expropriation daw? Di nyo ho pwedeng i-expropriate yan. Saan tayo kukuha ng pera para i-expropriate ang 150 hectares? Wala hong pagkukuhanan ng pera ng ganon... Sinasabi, hindi raw mapagawa yung mga kalsada sa Pangarap, papano ko ho ipapagawa, dinedemanda na nga tayo eh... Pangalawa, hindi ho ako pwede magpagawa sa mga pribadong lupa (I would expropriate the land? That can't be done. Where do we get money for that? We don't have that. They're saying that I could fix the roads there? How? We are already facing legal charges regarding that. Aside from that, I cannot help fix private properties)," Malapitan said.

Erice acknowledged Malapitan's explanation but he said, the mayor could have done more. These include "calling out" the violations committed by the land developer, which is operating without legal permit, and providing law enforcers to stop the intimidation done by armed security officers deployed to the area.

"Pwede nya pong ipa-kansela ang business permit... dahil sa hindi pagsunod sa mga regulasyon ng pamahalaan lalo na ho sa pagkuha ng development permit (He can cancel their business permits, particularly development permit, because they do not follow regulations set by the local government)," Erice said.

"At halimbawa po, yung mga security guards na malalaki ang armas na paikot ikot dyan. Sino po ba ang may operational control noong police? So kung meron pong paikot ikot dyan, pabantayan nya, sitahin nya kung walang paalam... (For example, regarding those armed security guards roaming around the area, who has the operational control over the police? So if there are armed guards roaming around, he should have asked law enforcers to monitor them and call out)," the lawmaker added.