Pasig court upholds BCDA ownership of contested JUSMAG land

A Pasig City court has upheld the dismissal of a petition seeking to bar the state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) from selling a parcel of land within the JUSMAG area in the Bonifacio South. According to the August 13, 2012 ruling of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 266, Delsan Transport Lines Inc., the petitioner, has no legal right over the contested property since the title from which its ownership is based has already been voided by the Supreme Court. “Clearly, petitioner has no legal right over the subject properties as the source of its right had originated from a title which had been duly cancelled and voided,” said Branch 266 Presiding Judge Toribio Ilao Jr. in a three-page decision. The title in question, Original Certificate of Title No. 291 issued on October 17, 1906, has been cancelled and declared void by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the land was government property. “This Original Certificate of Title No. 291 had been cancelled and declared void by the Supreme Court in Acting Registrar of Land Titles and Deeds of Pasay City, Pasig and Makati v. RTC, Brach 57, Makati, where the Supreme Court conclusively held that the lot covered by the Original Certificate of Title No. 291 is government property,” Ilao said in his decision. BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Paciano Casanova said as administrator of various prime government properties, it is incumbent upon BCDA to ensure that any and all forms of encroachment or any other action that puts a cloud to the title and ownership of the Republic be prevented, removed and eradicated. “BCDA is committed to fulfill its duty as stewards of government property,” Casanova said. He added that the agency is “actively prosecuting” illegal claims in all BCDA lots. In its petition, Delsan claimed that it bought in 1994 two parcels of land consisting of 35,706 square meters within the JUSMAG Area from a certain Vicente Sandoval who, in turn, allegedly bought the lots in 1966 from Alfredo Sandoval. Sandoval allegedly acquired the lots covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 132256 from Juanito Marcelo, who bought the same from Constancia Quinto. The parcels of land being claimed by Delsan were reportedly part of a bigger  parcel consisting of 96,364 sqm. covered by Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 291 issued on Oct. 17, 1906. But during the hearings, the BCDA convincingly proved that the contested lots belonged to the government, and that OCT 291 had been cancelled and voided by the Supreme Court in connection with another case initiated by the Samahan ng Masang Pilipino sa Makati Inc. BCDA also said the subject properties are within theJUSMAG property which was part of the  Fort McKinley and originally covered by Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 2288 in the name of the United States of America. The title was cancelled by TCT No. 61524 in the name of the Republic of the Philippines after the US conveyed the same to the latter. The JUSMAG property then became part of Parcel 3 of the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation created by Proclamation 423. The property was subsequently transferred to the BCDA by virtue of Republic Act 7227 enacted in 1992, prompting the cancellation of TCT 61524 in favor of TCT Nos. 11481 and 11482 in the name of the BCDA. — KBK, GMA News