Church wins first round in road right-of-way case

CEBU, Philippines - Regional Trial Court Branch 7 Presiding Judge Simeon Dumdum Jr., denied the application for the issuance of a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction filed by spouses Adora and Michael Casey over a road right-of-way leading to a church.

Last year, the couple filed cases for injunction and damages against Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, Holy Cross Parish in Basak, Cebu City and parish priest Henrietto Visitacion.

The couple asked the court to issue an injunction against defendants allowing them to use the four-meter wide road right-of-way which they claimed adjacent to the lot owned by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cebu.

In his two-page order, Dumdum cited there was “no urgency to cause the issuance of a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction.” He added that in fact the couple was not “exactly deprived of passage” because there is still a one-meter road right-of-way.

Dumdum added that the couple, as admitted by their lawyer, can use another route in going to their residence from the national highway.

The couple bought a parcel of lot in Barangay Basak which was adjacent to the lot owned by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cebu. The couple said before they bought the lot, they had the assurance from the former owners of the property of a four-meter road right-of-way.

However, the couple alleged that Visitacion ordered the construction of a concrete wall that passes through the road right-of-way starting from the main road. They added that the construction of the concrete fence has lessened the passage to about one-meter wide which is enough only for two persons to pass through and is impossible for a four-wheel vehicle to pass.

The defendants, in their reply, denied the existence of a road right-of-way adjacent to the lot owned by the couple.. – (FREEMAN)