Court halts claims to SMDC‘s Pasay property

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential construction arm of retail tycoon Henry Sy’s SM Investments Corp., has obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing claims to a six-hectare property in Pasay City.

The 60-day TRO was issued by the Court of Appeals on Jan. 24, 2013 following the urgent ex-parte motion filed by SMDC seeking to enjoin the Pasay RTC from implementing its Jan. 3 decision, which recognized the heirs of Danilo V. Herrera as the legitimate owner of the property.

In its motion, SMDC said it has a valid legal title over the contiguous parcels of commercial lands situated at Bgy. San Rafael, Roxas Blvd, Pasay City, which are being unlawfully claimed by persons using a reconstituted title.

SMDC claimed that the Register of Deeds had caused the reconstitution and issuance of a new owner’s duplicate original copy of transfer certificate in Herrera’s name.

As per verification with the Land Registration Authority, SMDC said the claimants’ title is derived from another title covering a property situated in Malibay, Pasay City.

SMDC alleged that the Pasay RTC gravely erred in decreeing the issuance of the writ of possession as the same cannot be issued in a petition for reconstitution of the owner’s duplicate copy of an allegedly lost certificate of title, and that said writ was issued without notice to the petitioner, which currently occupies the property.

In its order, the Appellate Court said SMDC has established its rights, particularly its right to be protected through the temporary restraining order prayed for.

The Appellate Court cited Sec. 7, Rule 65 of the Rules of Court which provides that the court “may also grant a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction for the preservation of the rights of the parties pending such proceedings.”

SMDC also cited the April 3, 2003 report by a fact-finding team at the LRA that found the property in the name of Herrera “to be a fake and spurious certificate of title, not having been issued in the regular course of business.”