Phl “owner” loses case vs woman

CEBU, Philippines - The Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed the falsification case filed by a group that claimed ownership of the entire Philippine archipelago against a resident who fenced her property.

Assistant City Prosecutor Geronima Baring found the complaint filed by a certain Alfredo Aton against Marian Vasquez lacking in probable cause for a trial to proceed.

Aton, representative of Tiburcio Villamor Marcos Tallano Tagean IV who claimed to be the owner of Lot No. 3063 of the cadastral survey through “The Universal Queen of  Queens Foundation, Inc.,” sought the prosecution of Vasquez for allegedly presenting documents to show her ownership of the said lot.

Baring said Aton primarily relied on his “sweeping claim of ownership” on the basis of mere machine-copies of documents which under the Rules of Evidence, “have no probative value for being not property authenticated.”

The group Alpha Omega World Development Marshall Programme earlier claimed that Lapu-Lapu City is part of the Hacienda Filipina owned by the royal clan entrusted to the Universal Queen of Queens Foundations, Inc.

It asked the Lapu-Lapu City government and all its instrumentalities to stop what it described as “illegal disposition, selling, leasing, conveyances, and development” of private ancestral land domains allegedly owned by the Tallano-Tagean Royal Clan.

In response, City Attorney Yuri Beluan told the group that the claim appears to be contrary not just to existing government records of titles and ownership but also to prevailing laws of the Republic of the Philippines.

Beluan said the documents submitted should be thoroughly verified in consideration of their “highly dubious character.”

Beluan warned the group that the absence of authority to use seals and emblems of the United Nations, its organizations and agencies, and of the different instrumentalities of the Philippine government, and the signatures of different government officials will expose them to criminal liability.

“Hence, with the foregoing, please stop arrogating upon yourselves that you own the whole Philippine archipelago. Please also stop threatening the city with your notices,” read a letter of Beluan addressed to Aton.

The group has been sending demand letters to government agencies and authorities, businessmen, private entities and ordinary residents nationwide asking them to pay billions of pesos, in cash or in kind, for using the lands in the Philippines.

The demand letters, which bore different dates and addressed to many recipients reminding them on their “obligation” to pay for the lots they used for business purposes, were sent to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In a letter dated June 5, 2014, lawyer Henry de Veyra, manager for Currency Issue and Integrity Office, Investigation Division, informed the group that the concern raised was not within the purview of the BSP. — (FREEMAN)