Settling the supposedly settled friar lands!

One of the big problems troubling Cebu City today, especially for those who have houses, buildings or properties within the so-called Banilad Friar Estate, which lies in the North District of Cebu City encompassing some 1,900 hectares (from Mahiga Creek at the Cebu Country Mall, all the way down to the old boundary of the Mabolo shoreline prior to the North Reclamation Area, then further down to P. del Rosario street hitting the Guadalupe River), is that recently decided case by the Supreme Court (SC) between Francisco Alonso and Cebu Country Club way back on Jan. 31, 2002.

The SC, in that very controversial land case, set aside the decision of the lower court and the Court of Appeals (where the Cebu Country Club won) and dismissed all claims and counterclaims and awarded the property to a non-litigant in this case… the Government of the Philippines.

One would think that this problem doesn’t affect anyone else, except the members of Cebu’s premier golf club. Unfortunately because the country club falls within the boundaries of the Banilad Friar Estate that means a dark legal pall hangs over everyone who has properties within that area.

By everyone, I mean everyone who has homes, properties and businesses in Cebu City from the Ayala IT Park, the Ayala Business Park, the Waterfront Hotel, Fuente Osmeña, Robinson’s, PLDT, to the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters. This includes all of Cebu’s major schools like St. Theresa College, Sacred Heart School, Inmaculada, Cebu Doctors University, USC Boy’s and Girl’s High and the Catholic churches, including everyone living within those boundaries like Beverly Hills, Peace Valley, Elisa Valley, Beverly Glen, the Taoist Temple, Ecotech and even the residence of our good friend Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

Last Friday, I went to the new Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) building to attend the public hearing conducted by the House committee on natural resources on House Bill No. 4400 entitled, "An act declaring and confirming the validity of Transfer Certificates of Title and Reconstituted Certificates of Title covering the so-called Banilad Friar Lands Estate situated in the First District of the City of Cebu." This is a proposal by Rep. Raul del Mar to solve this problem and among those who attended the public hearing were Rep. Eddie Gullas and Rep. Red Durano.

The problem with that Supreme Court ruling is that, since it is now a legal doctrine, then anyone (including any landgrabber) who files a case against a bonafide landowner within the boundaries of the Banilad Friar Estate may end up losing his certificate of title. With so many unscrupulous lawyers on the loose working in cahoots with the so-called "rogues in robes," you better believe that this is a very worrisome situation.

It is common knowledge here in Cebu that you can easily find "financiers" who buy cases, especially from owners of properties (they provide the cash-strapped complainant who may have a legitimate claim to a property with legal and financial aid) already in the courts and with the help of corrupt judges, they easily win their land cases without even owning those properties! Just ask anyone who has bought properties on Mactan Island and they’ll know what I’m talking about… it is common knowledge in Cebu.

Rep. Raul del Mar’s proposed bill is actually a corrective measure designed to fix whatever was wrong with the so-called Banilad Friar’s Act No. 1120 promulgated sometime in 1900, which the national government was mandated to dispose. He, of course, was prodded by no less than his eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who wrote him a letter last April 19 in behalf of the thousands upon thousands of Cebuanos who live within the North District of Cebu City. Yes, the Catholic Church was one of those victimized by harassment cases… in the hope of winning the land belonging to the Church.

Looking at the number of people who attended that public hearing (I counted around 50 attendees), you’d think that either the people who own houses, buildings or properties within the boundaries of the Banilad Friar Estate don’t know what’s going on or they just don’t think that the legal problems are serious enough to give it some thought.

While a lot of people spoke about this potential problem in that hearing, to my mind the best person who spoke about this issue was the committee chairman himself, Rep. Leovigildo "Boy" Banaag, whose opening statement gave us an insight into the magnitude of the SC decision, as there are apparently 23 other friar estates all over the Philippines. Banaag said the SC decision would unsettle what has already been settled so many years ago. Indeed, we’re so good in resurrecting our past problems as if we needed more problems in our hands!

The chairman’s opening statement clearly showed that this problem was no longer the problem of the owners of the 1,900 hectares or the 19,029,180 square meters within the Banilad Friar Estate, as it now clearly threatened the other friar estates as well. Thus, the SC doctrine may just open the floodgates of similar legal cases over those 23 other friar lands.

Hence, those who have properties within this land area are thankful that Rep. Del Mar has quickly acted to solve this potential problem. His proposal gives property owners a new confidence that the transfer certificates of title of their properties would no longer be challenged by so-called "ambulance chasers" and other types of landgrabbers, which is already happening here in Cebu and I’m sure it is also happening everywhere else. Of course, that is all dependent upon the approval of this measure into a law.

Of course, there will be those who will question that this corrective measure would, in effect, legalize the ownership of properties which were unscrupulously taken… like those cases already won through a fraudulent act. But then, that’s the problem with our present system… it is so open to scam artists in legal robes. I would rather see a law passed that gives some kind of security or permanence to our land titles… something that a Torrens title is supposed to have provided. Hopefully, this Congress can speed up its process and approve the Del Mar measure. As Chairman Banaag said, "We came to settle an unsettling effect with the friar estates."

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.