CA favors Sin clan in land row

The Court of Appeals (CA) has ruled in favor of the family of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin in a dispute over a 41,231-square-meter land in Aklan.

In a 10-page resolution, the CA’s 16th division upheld the decision of the Aklan Regional Trial Court awarding the property to the Sin family.

Court records show that the heirs of Maxima Lachica Sin — Salvacion Sin, Rosario Enriquez, Francisco Sin, Maria Yuchintat, Manuel Sin, Ramon Sin, Ceferina Vista and Cardinal Sin — filed a complaint with the Aklan RTC for the recovery of the property.

They did so upon learning that the state-run Aklan National College of Fisheries (ANCF) had allegedly usurped the land in Barangay Tambac in New Washington town.

The Sin siblings said they inherited the property upon the death of their mother.

The ANCF, however, argued that the disputed parcel of land was the subject of Proclamation No. 2074 of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos which allotted the property for use of the school.

The school added that the property was declared by the state as a timberland in 1960.

The CA, however, said the Sin family presented enough evidence that the property was acquired through purchase from its previous owners.

"It should be noted that Maxima Lachica Sin acquired, through purchase and sale, the subject property from its previous owners, spouses Sotera Melocoton and Victor Garcia, on Jan. 15, 1932," the CA said in its decision.