Heir of lot owners wants land back

 CEBU, Philippines - An heir of a couple that earlier executed a deed of exchange with the Province of Cebu for a parcel of land is now seeking the nullification of the deed.

In his complaint, Casiano Almario Jr., an heir of late spouses Francisco Almario and Felipa Zafra, asked the court to declare the deed of exchange executed in March 1953 null and void saying it never materialized as the lot promised to them was allegedly given to another party.

“The deed of exchange between the plaintiffs and defendant had never been materialized considering the supposed parcels of lot to be exchanged by the defendant to lot No. 925-A of the plaintiffs were given by the defendant to the Velezes,” the complaint reads.

The late couple was among the registered co-owners of Lot No. 925 with an area of four hectares located along Gorordo Ave., Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.

Almario said the lot was subdivided into several parcels of land and one of the lots was No. 925-A with an area of 4,741 square meters and owned by the couple.

He added sometime in March 1953 the Provincial Government represented by then governor Sergio Osmeña Jr. and the couple agreed to an exchange.

In the said agreement, the Province of Cebu will exchanged their lands described as Lot Nos. 911-B-2-C-2-C-1, 911-B-2-C-2-C-2 and 911-B-2-C-2-C-3 with the lot of the couple described as Lot No. 925-A.

Almario further said that the said deed of exchange was approved by the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

He said after the deed of exchange, a Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. 25177 and 25178 were issued but it was “registered under the names of Jesus Velez, Carmen Velez, Eduardo Palacios, Marita Palacios, Carmelita Palacios, Eduardo Palacios Jr., and Melencio Palacios on the basis of another deed of exchange.”

He also said they filed a civil case before the court for the nullification of title nos. 25177 and 25178 which the court nullified on Sept. 25, 1986.

However, the decision was appealed and it was reversed by the Court of Appeals and eventually affirmed by the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

He said despite the fact that the spouses were the real owner they did not get a fair deal from the defendant.

On Aug. 7, 2012, the plaintiff through his counsel sent a letter to the defendant “asking the latter to just pay them the fair market value” but there was no reply.

With that, Almario said they are seeking for the nullification of the transfer of ownership of Lot No. 925-A in the name of the defendant.   (FREEMAN)