Caloocan urban poor scam victims

"It looks like it won’t be long now before we’re thrown out into the streets again as pitiable squatters (Mukhang hindi na magtatagal, muli kaming itatapon sa kalye bilang kaawa-awang squatters)," said Mariano Lomugdang, founder of the Sto. Niño Kapitbahayan Association.

Since 1986, the community of 437 urban poor homeowners has been living in a portion of Barangay Libis, Baesa, Caloocan City. The area is about a hundred meters off the North Diversion Road. Their two land titles were declared supposedly fake by a trial court, while that of a powerful land developer was blessed as valid.

A few months ago, the Court of Appeals relying only on a trial court’s finding based on the testimony of NBI experts – not on land registration experts’ records – affirmed the decision. Now the case is before the Supreme Court.

The families are among the victims of a titling scam involving the long-defunct Maysilo Estate. Also affected are legitimate big and small landowners and homeowners of a large portion of Caloocan City, Malabon City and part of Quezon City near the Balintawak Cloverleaf.

"Our lands our homes, our very lives, depend on this case (Nakasalalay sa kasong ito ang aming lupa, mga bahay, ang aming mismong buhay)," lamented Lomugdang. Way back in 1987, the urban poor community obtained a P3.5-million loan from the National Housing Authority (NHA). With this loan, the poor families bought the three hectares and 50 sq.m. land from their private owners. The area was subdivided into 50 sq.m. to 150 sq.m. lots for the families. Struggling against all odds, the poor families include a three-story concrete elementary school, a health center, a day-care center, a basketball court, and two chapels. Then Congressman Bobby Guanzon helped the community cement its main Libis road. The NHA and the barangay council pitched in to provide other facilities.

At first, the trial court presided by Judge Adoracion G. Angeles ruled that the urban poor families’ titles were genuine. The Judge relied on land registration Authority evidence. They can be traced on previous legitimate titles, including titles of the national government which expropriated the lands from the heirs of Francisco Gonzales. The Gonzales titles, in turn, were valid transfers covering the property of the original owners, Alejandro Ruiz and Mariano Leuterio. The two acquired their transfer certificates of title Nos. 4210 and 4211 and covering 891,547 sq.m. representing the total area of Lot 26 of Original Certificate of Title 994, one of the titles of Maysilo Estate.

However, acting on a motion for reconsideration, Judge Angeles ate her words in the first decision and "amended’ it in a complete turnabout that shocked the urban poor families and their NHA lawyer. She junked the LRA findings which she had earlier found "logical." Then she accepted the testimonies of supposed paper experts and the claim that since the original land title was written in English, while the inscriptions or annotations were in Spanish, the poor families’ titles which were derived from this title should be considered fake. Then she declared the CLT title genuine!