SC remands to CA Piedad Estate property dispute

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court has overturned its previous ruling affirming a Court of Appeals decision that cancelled the Manotok family’s claim over the controversial 3,000-hectare Piedad Estate in Quezon City. Voting 8-6 with one abstention, the SC remanded the 20-year-old land case to the CA for further proceedings and likewise ordered it to raffle the case immediately upon the receipt of the resolution. “The Court recognizes that there is not yet any sufficient evidence for us to warrant the annulment of the Manotok title. All the record indicates thus far is evidence not yet refuted by clear and convincing proof that the Manotok’s claim to the title is flawed. To arrive at an ultimate determination, the formal reception of evidence is in order. This Court is not a trier of facts,” the Court said in a 37-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Dante Tinga At the center of controversy was a parcel of land nestled in the barrios of Culiat, Capitol Hills, Old Balara and the posh Ayala Heights that was being claimed by the heirs of one Homer Barque. Barque’s heirs claimed that theirs was the real certificate of title to the land while the certificate owned by the Manotoks was a “sham and spurious” document. The Piedad land dispute is considered as one of the most contentious in the cases that started when the Office of the Register of Deeds of Quezon City burned down in June 1988. In its decision, the SC admitted that the First Division erred in coming up with its June 12, 2005 decision that paved the way for the cancellation of the land title of the Manotok clan in favor of Barque’s heirs as the real owners of the parcels of land. The SC held that neither the Land Registration Authority (LRA) nor the CA had jurisdiction to cancel the Manotok title over the said property, which is said to be worth more than P5 billion, citing provisions of the Presidential Decree No. 1529 or the Property Registration Decree. The Court said that the cancellation of the Manotok title cannot arise incidentally from the administrative proceeding for reconstitution of the Barque title filed before the LRA even if the evidence would show that Manotok title is spurious. Under the law, the appellate court’s jurisdiction covers only special civil actions and actions for annulment of judgments of the regional trial court, the SC said. Concurring with the ruling were Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Renato Corona, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Presbiterio Velasco Jr. and Arturo Brion. Dissenting were Associate Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Leonardo Quisumbing, Adolfo Azcuna, Minita Chico-Nazario, Ruben Reyes and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro. Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura took no part in the deliberation. - GMANews.TV