BAGUIO CITY – The city government and the municipality of Tuba in Benguet have reached an agreement on a swap deal involving parcels of land that each owns but lies within the other's political jurisdiction, seeing an end to a century-old boundary dispute.

Both parties agreed to adopt the scheme worked out by a joint technical working group formed by the two local government units (LGUs) and completed after more than a year, following a series of discussions, technical reviews, and negotiations.

“It is finally over after more than a century,” Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said in an interview on Monday.

Under the scheme, Baguio would cede parcels of land occupied by Tuba’s elementary and high schools and its municipal building.

Tuba would give to this city the areas where Santo Tomas High School and parts of Baguio Water District are located.

Both parties consented to the conduct of a political boundary final survey and agreed to respect natural boundaries and titled properties and discussed the next steps towards consummating the deal.

The mayor said apart from the surveys which are estimated to take two months, both LGUs will work out legislative requirements for the deal.

The Tuba municipal council will have to adopt a resolution for submission to the Benguet Provincial Council for affirmation, while Baguio will also seek approval from its city council.

Magalong said a plebiscite also needs to be held to finalize the agreement, covering the four affected barangays in Baguio and one barangay in Tuba.

He added that they will coordinate closely with the Commission on Elections to plan the plebiscite, including its schedule and budget.

The jurisdictional line issue started in 1927, stemming from unclearly defined boundaries when Baguio became a city in 1909.

In 2005, an agreement for a 1:1 land swap was made but it was vetoed by President Aquino in 2012 under the revised city charter. (PNA)