Guingona: Gov't execs negligent in land mess

Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona charged yesterday that there was dereliction of duty by some government officials in signing the compromise agreement on the private claim to 4,689 hectares of land in Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

Guingona's charge came after the testimony of Assistant Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Gaudencio Mendoza at the initial hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Guingona's recent privilege speech against the compromise agreement.

The agreement would grant the 4,689 hectares to a certain Florencia Garcia-Diaz who had originally claimed 16,000 hectares of land based on a Spanish title.

Guingona said Mendoza committed dereliction of duty by not studying the compromise agreement before signing it, by not informing Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora about the agreement, by not getting any directions from Zamora, and by not attending subsequent meetings.

"That is straining the credibility of the senators. It seems strange that the man goes to a meeting without consulting his boss and then affixing his signature to a very important compromise agreement," he said.

Guingona said some senators are not convinced that Mendoza was telling the truth and that they suspected a cover-up.

Mendoza, however, said he signed the compromise deal only as a witness and that it was Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez who prepared the compromise agreement.

"Signing as witness simply means that I am attesting that the parties signed the document in my presence. I am not bound to know or be aware of the documents," Mendoza said.

He said Galvez, who prepared the document, is the highest government lawyer and that he (Mendoza) felt legally protected and safe.

"At no time and at no instance did I tell the Solicitor General that the compromise agreement was with the knowledge, much less consent or approval of the Executive Secretary," he added.

Guingona, however, was not convinced. He said the Blue Ribbon Committee would invite Zamora and Galvez at the next hearing.

He said that what pained him most was the revelation that the compromise agreement was already final and executory.

"We can still recover the 4,689 hectares if the government petitions for its nullity," he said.

However, he said that filing such a petition would be embarrassing as this reverses the government's previous stance.

"But (it is) better to lose face than to lose the 4,689 hectares," Guingona said.

Under the compromise agreement, Diaz agreed to withdraw her petition for the titling of 16,000 hectares of Fort Magsaysay and the government, in return, will award her the title to the 4,689 hectares.