VSMMC insists on lot ownership

CEBU, Philippines - A government hospital is seeking the dismissal of the civil case filed by Carlos Anton Rallos Jr. who claimed ownership of the lot where the medical center stands on.                                             

The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed its reply asking for the dismissal of the case for lack of merit.

Earlier, Rallos filed a case seeking for the recovery of lot 482-A located along B. Rodriquez Street in Barangay Sambag II, Cebu City with 17,254 square meters.

In his complaint, he wants VSMMC, hospital Chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr. and other settlers to vacate the premises.

He claimed that he has the document to prove ownership of the said property. He added he was one of the heirs of the late Simeon Rallos and co-owner of the property.

Rallos, through his lawyer Terence Fernandez, asked the court to order VSMMC to pay for moral and exemplary damages, attorney’s fees, litigation fees and the costs of the suit.

In its reply, the VSMMC claimed the property in question is owned by the government.

They added the “supposed certificate of title in the possession of Rallos is considered null and void for being fraudulently secured.”

The OSG said the certificate of title which Rallos has cannot win over the government’s own certificate of title.

The VSMMC was formerly called the Southern Island Hospital.

“The property has been utilized by the hospital thus any contrary classification therefore can only result from fraudulent misdeclaration of its nature,” the VSMMC said in its reply.

Meanwhile, Jack Rallos, one of the heirs, will intervene the proceedings of the case. He said he does not know why the government claimed ownership over the lot.

“I heard it was donated by late Victoria Rallos to Southern Islands but no document was presented to prove that it was donated,” he said. – (FREEMAN)