SC’s Maysilo ruling awaited

Millions of people residing in subdivisions and government housing projects in Quezon City, Malabon, Valenzuela and Caloocan are awaiting the final Supreme Court decision surrounding the Maysilo Estate controversy.

An adverse ruling on the land dispute would mean the eviction of millions of residents in the 1,342 square-meter land area sprawling the boundaries of four cities in Metro Manila.

Aside from the present occupants scattered throughout the disputed land areas, the affected private institutions awaiting the SC ruling include the University of the East in Caloocan City, Gregorio Araneta University-De La Salle in Malabon, the Manila Central University, Grand Central shopping mall, Araneta Square, Bonifacio Market, Victory Liner, Pure Gold in Caloocan City and the Eternal Gardens memorial park and surrounding government housing areas which are all located in Quezon City.

The Bonifacio Monument and a portion of the Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEX) are also included in the dispute.

In the event the controversial Maysilo Estate is awarded to the heirs of Maria de la Concepcion Vidal, several factories and manufacturing firms located within the disputed estate will have to move out.

Food processors, paper manufacturers, factories churning out plastic products and a variety of small businesses all located within an area in one-third of Malabon, 64 barangays of Caloocan City, some portions of Valenzuela and Quezon City would be covered by the final decision in this case.

The local governments of the four cities affected by the land dispute are now studying the implications of the adverse decision on their respective real property tax systems.

The SC decision will weigh heavily on the revenue of the four cities affected by the 26-year land dispute.

A decision favoring the petitioners will mean 64 barangays in Caloocan, in this instance, will be turned over to a private landowner, resulting in the eviction of the residents who have been occupying the land for decades.

Caloocan City will bear the biggest impact in case of an adverse ruling since it has invested millions in infrastructure such as school buildings, roads, bridges, and public markets.

It would mean a loss of more than P200 million in revenues since thousands of individual and corporate taxpayers are operating in the Caloocan portion of the disputed estate, according to officials.

The effect of a possible adverse ruling caused the Senate in 1997 to conduct an inquiry under the initiative of the late Senate President Marcelo Fernan, describing the Maysilo Estate dispute as the “mother of land scams.”

The controversy stemmed from the irregular issuance of land titles covering the vast Maysilo Estate, which has spawned conflicting claims of ownership over the decades, eventually reaching the Supreme Court.

It involves the validity of five certificates of land title, which were allegedly fraudulently issued and formed part of the vast Maysilo Estate belonging to the heirs and grandchildren of De la Concepcion Vidal since 1917.