Justice dep't dismisses charges vs tycoon Sy, 7 others

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday junked the plunder charges against shopping mall tycoon Henry Sy Sr. and seven others filed by a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) informer over the alleged unlawful acquisition of parcels of land in Quezon City. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez ordered the case dismissed after denying the petition for review filed by complainant Danilo Lihaylihay, who asked for the reversal of an earlier resolution of the Quezon City prosecutor’s office dismissing the charges against the respondents. Also exonerated in the case were Henry Sy Jr, Felicidad Sy, Teresita Sy. Hans Sy and Harly Sy, all directors of SM Mega Holdings Inc., Quezon City register of deeds Samuel Cleofe, and former National Housing Authority (NHA) general manager Robert Balao. In affirming the resolution of the Quezon City prosecutor’s office, Gonzalez ruled that the complainant failed to produce evidence to support his contention that the acquisition of SM Mega Holdings of the subject parcels of land was illegal and that the proper taxes due on the transactions were not paid. In his complaint, Lihaylihay alleged that the Sys’ company unlawfully acquired parcels of land in Quezon City with an aggregate area of 361,252 square meters. These parcels of land were covered by transfer certificates of title (TCT) 118507, 118537 and 118538 under the name of SM Mega Holdings Inc. Lihaylihay included Cleofe as one of the respondents for allegedly issuing the transfer certificates while Balao was charged for his alleged failure to investigate the property transfer. The complainant further claimed that the parcel of land covered by TCT 118507 was owned by the NHA and was covered by the predecessor title, TCT 79353, while the parcels of land covered by TCT 118537 and 118538 were owned by the State and previously covered by original certificate of title 333, known as the "Regalado Title." Lihayllihay contended that the SM Mega Holdings was not qualified to acquire lands classified as public domain. The complainant added that the respondents also did not pay the proper taxes on the transactions, including documentary stamps. In their counter-affidavits, respondent directors of SM Mega Holdings claimed that Lihaylihay's complaint was an offshoot of a similar case involving the transactions in question he filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, which dismissed it. The respondents further argued that the parcels of land are not part of the public domain and that they paid the documentary stamp taxes on the questioned transactions. - GMANews.TV