High Court ends 20-year battle over disputed property

High Court ends 20-year battle over disputed property
THE Supreme Court (SC) affirmed with finality on Thursday its earlier decision that forfeited in favor of the government a 34-hectare portion of the Piedad estate in Quezon City after private claimants failed to prove their ownership over the prime property.

Covered by Lot 823, the Piedad estate is a friar land nestled in the barrios of Capitol Hills, Old Balara, Culiat and the posh Ayala Heights in Quezon City, with a market value pegged at P4 billion. Claiming ownership of the land were the heirs of Severino Manotok IV and those of Homer Barque and Felicitas Manahan.
The land dispute was spawned by a fire in June 1988 that gutted the office of the Register of Deeds in Quezon City, prompting the Manotoks to apply for the administrative reconstitution of the titles.

In a 32-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr., the Court en banc junked the separate motions for reconsideration filed by claimants, putting an end to the 20 years of legal battle over the parcels of land.

The majority ruling upheld the recommendations made by the Court of Appeals (CA) that declared the Manotok’s title as null and void, while the subject property is still part of the property of the government.
On the other hand, the SC ruled that the Barque’s claim of ownership was anchored on fake and spurious documents.

The CA earlier said that none of the parties were able to prove a valid acquisition of Lot 823 of the Piedad estate from the government in accordance with the provisions of Act 1120, or the “Friar Lands Act.”

Due to the “serious flaws” in the title produced by Severino Manotok that were brought to light during the reconstitution proceedings, the CA deemed it proper to give all the parties full opportunity to present more evidence, and in particular, for the Manotoks to prove their presumed just title over the property, which is also claimed by the Barques and the Manahans.

“As it turned out, none of the parties were able to establish by clear and convincing evidence a valid alienation from the government of the subject friar land. The declaration of ownership in favor of the government was but the logical consequence of such finding,” the SC ruled.

The High Court further noted that the Manotoks failed to prove the existence of sale certificate in the records of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Land Management Bureau (DENR LMB).

Likewise, the SC noted that the approval of the then Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce as required by Section 18 of the Act 112 is lacking in the deed of conveyances of the Manotoks. This provision states that: “No lease or sale made by the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands under the provisions of this Act shall be valid until approved by the Secretary of the Interior.”

“We, thus held that no legal right over the subject friar land can be recognized in favor of the Manotoks… in the absence of the certificate of sale duly signed by the Director of Lands and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources,” the Court ruled.

Concurring with the ruling were Chief Justice Renato Corona and Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Mariano del Castillo, Jose Portugal Perez, Lucas Bersamin, and Jose Catral Mendoza.

Associate Justice Antonio Carpio wrote a dissenting opinion, which Justices Maria Lourdes Sereno, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad, Bienvenido Reyes, and Esterla Perlas-Bernabe agreed in.

Records showed that the Philippine government acquired Lot 823 from the Philippine Sugar Estates Development Company Ltd., La Sociedad Agricola de Ultramar, the British Manila Estate Company Ltd., and the Recoleto Order of the Philippine Islands on December 23, 1903.

The Piedad estate has been titled in the name of the government under Original Certificate of Title (OCT) 614 and was placed under the administration of the Director of Lands.

The Barques had filed a petition with the Land Registration Authority for administrative reconstitution of the original Transfer Certificate of Title (OCT) 210177 covering 342,945 square meters of two parcels of land as part of Lot 823 of the Piedad estate issued in the name of Homer Barque.

Upon learning of the Barques’ petition, the Manotoks filed their opposition and insisted that the property belongs to them.

The SC, in its ruling dated December 18, 2008, reversed the decision issued by the First Division on May 2006 that cancelled the land title of the Manotoks over the property.

It remanded the case to the CA for the purpose of receiving evidence determine the validity of the transfer certificate titles of the Manotoks and other claimants represented by the heirs of Barque and Manahan.

Based on the recommendations of the CA, the identified owner of the Piedad estate should be the “Gobierno de las Islas Filipinas,” thus, both the Manotoks and the Barques failed to prove by convincing evidence their acquisition of their titles. (JCV/Sunnex)

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