DND sues to get lot back

CEBU, Philippines - A civil case for cancellation of reconstituted transfer certificate of title was filed before the court yesterday against Mariano Godinez and the Register of Deeds of Cebu City.

In the complaint, the Republic of the Philippines represented by the Department of National Defense sought for the cancellation of lot title No. 937 located in Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Apas, Cebu City, as it belongs to the state.

"In 1938, the Republic validly expropriated Lot 937 through Civil Case No. 781 decided by the Court of First Instance of Cebu and paid defendant Mariano Godinez' predecessor-interest the just compensation therefore," the complaint read.

The complaint was filed by Assistant Solicitor General Bernard Hernandez accompanied by the legal counsels of the residents of Lot 937.

Although there was already an order that the lot was expropriated, the plaintiff said Godinez "surreptitiously" filed a petition for reconstitution of title before the court.

The plaintiff said Godinez filed the petition almost 15 years after Felisa Sy Cip accepted the payment of just compensation on behalf of Eutiquio Uy Godinez, the father of Mariano Godinez.

Aside from the cancellation of title under the name of Mariano, the plaintiff also sought damages.

"Due to defendant Mariano Godinez' utter bad faith in causing the illegal reconstitution of title covering an expropriated property, with an ill motive of eventually recovering possession thereof despite payment of just compensation, plaintiff must be compensated for actual and exemplary damages," the complaint further read.

Lawyer Benjamin Militar, the counsel of the residents living in Lot 937 told The FREEMAN it was only now the case was filed by the Solicitor General.

"Congressman Tommy (Tomas Osmeña) has been following up the case when the solgen (solicitor general) was still Joel Cadiz and now Solgen Francis Jardeleza. The usual delay in moving the case is the sole reason why it was filed only now," he said.

Militar said it was the Office of the Solicitor General who pushed the case to recover the lot. He added Hernandez told them that they have to file the case this week and added that politics has nothing to do in filing the case.

Juanito Lim, nephew of Mariano Godinez, said the issue raised by the plaintiff has already been tackled. In fact, he said the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court that it was Mariano Godinez who owns the lot.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama was pleased with the legal steps taken by the government to resolve the issue on the lot in Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Apas.

"It is good enough that the office of the solicitor general acted on the issue. This should come to a conclusion," Rama told reporters.

But the mayor cautioned that the case has a long way to go and still requires concrete actions especially from the government. He added that it is one thing to file a case and another thing when you talk about how this will progress.

"Will it be heard? Will it be given merits? We hope nga mahatagan og merit so that makasaka siya sa Supreme Court," Rama said.

He cited the possibility of the case being stuck at filing stage and never see the light of the day.

"Usahay man gud, file-an lang. Biyaan. Di trabahuon ang pleading,"

With the conflicting land titles that claimants hold, the mayor acknowledged the importance of the court determining the legitimate one.

"As a lawyer, I know that the title should be protected. The question now is who carries the best documents," he added.

Rama said he was not surprised by the presence of his political rival Rep. Tomas Osmeña when the case was filed at the Regional Trial Court yesterday.

"Adto man gani siya'g (sitio) Bato (Ermita). Kung naa'y kabayo nga makapadaug niya, iya gyud nga sakyan," he added. — (FREEMAN)