House holds hearing on Banilad land row

Residents and owners of lots inside the Banilad Friar Land Estate aired their concerns during the public hearing of the House committee on environment and natural resources yesterday.

Discussed during the hearing was the House Bill 4400, or the "Act declaring and confirming the validity of transfer certificates of title and reconstituted certificates of title covering the so-called Banilad Friar Lands Estate situated in the First District of Cebu City," which is authored by Rep. Raul del Mar.

The legislator said that it is his duty to intervene on the issue because hundreds of thousands of his constituents living inside the 1,900-hectare area would be affected.

The boundaries of the Banilad Friar Estate start from the Mahiga Creek along the Gaisano Countrymall to the Guadalupe River and P. Del Rosario St. down to the old shoreline of the city before the North Reclamation Area was built.

Aside from Del Mar, present during the hearing were House environment and natural resources committee chairman Leovigildo Banaag and Cebu Reps. Eduardo Gullas and Ramonito "Red" Durano VI.

Del Mar said the bill he filed was inspired by the letter of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who sought for his intervention on the problem.

Del Mar added that he wanted to help the people get out of the "tremendous anxiety the problem had caused them and the threats of the harassment suits."

"Simply because there is no signature on the deed of conveyance that was the basis of the issuing of the certificate of transfer," the legislator said.

During the hearing, all lot owners, residents and occupants of the lots expressed support for the Del Mar bill. The Archbishop of Cebu also owns a lot in the area.

The problem stemmed from the case filed by Francisco Alonso in 1992 over a parcel of land that falls inside the territory of the Cebu Country Club, which he believed was rightfully his. However, the Regional Trial Court Branch 8 in Cebu City issued a decision in favor of the CCC.

The case was then elevated to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the decision of the RTC. But not satisfied with the decision of the appellate court, Alonso brought the case to the Supreme Court, which issued a decision saying that the contested property does not belong to any of the litigants but to the national government.

Lawyer Julius Neri said the Archbishop of Cebu also intervened because like the thousands of lot owners in the area, it has a property in the contested lot that does not bear the signature of the secretary of agriculture.

Neri explained that the lots within the Banilad Friar Lands Estate had been disposed of by the national government and the initial survey of the area clearly shows that they are now titled and possessed by private persons.

Catherine Joy Mallari, who represents the Office of the Solicitor General, announced that the OSG has suspended all actions with regards to the case until it has gathered all the information and data on the issue.

Del Mar said they would hold more committee hearings on the issue so as to submit the final draft of the bill to the plenary for approval. - Wenna A. Berondo