Guingona scores 'giveaway' of military reservation land

Senate Minority Floor Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. questioned in a privilege speech yesterday the compromise deal entered into by the Estrada administration with a certain Florencia Garcia-Diaz which, he said, resulted in a loss to the government of a 4,689-hectare portion of a military reservation.

The compromise deal, which Guingona described as illegal and violative of public policy, involved a part of the Fort Magsaysay military reservation in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

"The government has given away 4,689 hectares in Fort Magsaysay, an area about 10 times the grounds of UP Diliman, for nothing," Guingona said as he sought a Senate inquiry into the compromise deal.

The case arose from a petition filed in 1976 by a Flora Garcia for the titling to her name of some 16,589 hectares inside the military reservation.

She based her claim of ownership on an old Spanish possessory title and her alleged possession of the area for more than 30 years.

The Court of First Instance ruled in favor of Garcia. This was, however, reversed by the Court of Appeals in 1992 on the ground that the Supreme Court had already ruled that Garcia's Spanish possessory title was of doubtful authenticity and had no probative value.

Guingona said the appellate court also found Garcia's proof of her alleged 30-year continued possession of the land as inadequate, and ruled that the area, being inside a military reservation, could not be owned by private persons.

Garcia's heir, Florencia Garcia-Diaz, filed a motion for reconsideration. While this motion was pending, Garcia-Diaz was able to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with a government panel.

Guingona said the panel included Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora, Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonio Cerilles.

Other members of the panel were the Armed Forces chief of staff, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) director, the Land Registration Authority administrator and the Land Management Services director.

Based on a map prepared by NAMRIA which, Guingona said, is, incidentally, not authorized to prepare plans for land registration purposes, the land was considered outside the military reservation.

Because of this, Guingona said the government, through the Solicitor General, withdrew its claim over 4,689 hectares of the disputed land.

Guingona said the Solicitor General completely disregarded the Supreme Court decision that the possessory title of the Garcias had no probative value and the Court of Appeals' ruling that they failed to establish possession of the land for 30 years.

"The government had a winning case. It had the upperhand. No less than the courts have declared that Flora Garcia and her successors have no valid right or title over the land they claim to own. It was unnecessary, and downright illegal, for the government to enter into the compromise agreement that is decidedly unfavorable or prejudicial to it," said Guingona, the present Lakas president.

The senator added: "Compromise agreements of this nature should not be allowed and the Court of Appeals has no power to approve such a compromise contrary to law. It is imperative for the Senate to look into this compromise agreement in order that measures can be identified and adopted to prevent unfair compromises in the future. One such measure is the observance of more prudence in negotiations for compromise agreements in cases where the government has a clear advantage."