NPC lodges criminal raps vs GSIS officials

The National Press Club last week filed criminal charges against officials of the Government Services Insurance System (GSIS) for their “stubborn” refusal to enforce a 30-year-old law that requires the state agency to return to the NPC the land on which the NPC building stands in Intramuros.

In a case for nonfeasance and grave misconduct filed before the Ombudsman by NPC lawyer Berteni Causing, the NPC also asked the Ombudsman to issue a preventive suspension against Winston Garcia, GSIS president and general manager, as well as all members of the board of trustees and several other GSIS officials, and thereafter dismiss them from the service.

Nonfeasance is a criminal offense arising from the failure or refusal of a public official to perform a duty mandated by law. Republic Act 6770 empowers the Ombudsman to suspend and dismiss public officials found guilty of nonfeasance and grave misconduct.

In an affidavit filed before the Ombudsman, the NPC said Garcia not only failed but refuses to implement a provision of Letter of Instructions 500 directing the GSIS to “donate, transfer, convey, and cede” the NPC lot and building to the NPC.

The land on which the NPC building stands was donated to the NPC by the National Government under Republic Act 905, which Congress passed in 1953.

The GSIS, however, is claiming ownership of the land based on a supposed auction conducted by the city government of Manila in 1975, allegedly because of the NPC’s failure to pay property taxes.

Eighteen years after the supposed auction took place, the GSIS transferred the title to its name from the original title issued to the NPC in 1955.

But the NPC argued that the auction violated RA 905 because it was not authorized by then President Ferdinand Marcos as required under RA 905, which prohibits the transfer of the land to any other person without authorization from the President.

The NPC said an auction would necessarily lead to a change in ownership, which can only be done if authorized by the President.

Meantime, on Jan. 29, 1977, Marcos issued LOI 500, under which the land was subdivided.

The smaller portion on which a building of the Philippine Long Distance  Telephone Co. stands, which the NPC leased to the PLDT in 1956, was given to the GSIS as payment for a loan that the NPC obtained from the GSIS. The bigger portion was given to the NPC.

But instead of complying with the directive, the GSIS consolidated all titles to the two parcels of land in its name and recently filed an ejectment case against the NPC.

The NPC deplored both actions of the GSIS as constituting infringement on the freedom of the press, citing the NPC as “the sanctuary of press freedom and members of the media.”

“Depriving the NPC of its home for the last 55 years is tantamount to depriving the press of its sanctuary,” the NPC said.