SC allows release of QC land row records

MANILA, Philippines - Supreme Court Administrator Midas Marquez grudgingly agreed yesterday to release what he said were “voluminous” records on a case involving 23.7-hectares of mostly residential land near Visayas Avenue in Quezon City.

Appearing before the House committee on justice, which is looking into the case, Marquez initially balked at allowing the release of the records subpoenaed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and committee chairman Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo.

He said there is jurisprudence prohibiting courts from giving out documents on a case that is still pending resolution such as the dispute over the large prime property between residents and suspected landgrabber Wilfredo Torres.

Marquez said he wants to avoid a possible conflict between the decisions of at least two Quezon City regional trial courts (RTCs) on the dispute and the eventual findings of the committee on justice. He said he also wants to avoid a situation where the judges involved could be asked to explain their decisions.

Marquez then asked the committee to recall its invitations to Judge Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon of RTC Branch 224 and Evelyn Cabochan of Branch 98, and the subpoenas for the production of case records.

Tupas said his panel could withdraw the invitations but not the subpoenas.

“We need the complete records of this complex case so we could have all the information to arrive at an informed decision on what remedial measures to recommend,” he said.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., who proposed the issuance of the subpoenas two weeks ago, told Marquez that the documents the committee is seeking “are public records that should be available to any citizen.”

“Why couldn’t these be released to the House of Representatives?” he asked.

Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the committee wanted to obtain all the facts on the two-decade-old case and does not intend to review the decisions of the judges involved.

Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero III, one of the affected homeowners in danger of losing his property, asked the SC court administrator: “What is so sacrosanct about this case? We are being dispossessed by a syndicate and you don’t want to release the records?”

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez said the case involves economic sabotage as it attacks the land titling system.

It was at this point that Marquez budged, agreeing to provide certified photo copies of the records provided that the expenses involved be shouldered by the House.

Tupas said Villordon was aware of the titling of the lots in the names of residents and of a report of the Land Registration Authority that the title Torres cited in his claim was spurious.

She cited the report in her decision denying Torres’ petition in May 2005, he said, but reversed herself completely a year later and awarded the disputed land to the claimant.

For his part, Torres said he is not a landgrabber and is just pursuing his claim over the property, which he purportedly inherited from his mother.