The final notice of eviction was served yesterday to the retired officers led by former Marine commandant and Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa.
Espinosa and the rest of the retired officers were given a seven-day notice to vacate the premises.
Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan said a final notice of eviction was served to 56 retired Navy officers and their families who have been "overstaying" on the naval grounds long after their retirement from military service.
Malabanan stressed there had long been attempts to dislodge the officers but the retired Navy men formed the Naval Officers Village Homeowners Inc. (NOVHI) to secure a court injunction for their continued stay.
Malabanan pointed out the 56 retired naval officers who will be evicted are not among the petitioners who won the injunction from the Court of Appeals (CA).
"They have seven days from today (to vacate or otherwise) we will assist them to transfer their belongings," Malabanan said.
Navy chief Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga was supposed to personally serve the eviction notices yesterday but withdrew at the last minute to attend a meeting, he added.
Espinosa was among the military generals who withdrew support from former President Joseph Estrada during the EDSA II popular uprising in January 2001.
Espinosa was appointed as the country’s managing director of the Manila Economic Cultural Office (MECO) following his retirement, months after the EDSA II uprising.
Malabanan said Espinosa was among the "overstaying" retired generals who have been occupying the 20-hectare Navy housing project inside Fort Bonifacio.
Aside from Espinosa and his family, among those who are slated to be forced out of the Naval Officers Quarters are former Naval Forces South chief Julito Casillan, retired Commodore Rene Leandro Ebro and former Naval Surgeon Pablo Viray.
On the other hand, 17 of the officers, led by retired Commodores Eduardo Domingo and Rodolfo Simon, were able to secure titles for the land they have been occupying.
Domingo and Simon led NOVHI in securing an injunction from the CA in 1994 for their continued stay.
The government had argued the land titles secured by NOVHI and its officials are spurious since the disputed area is meant to be occupied by those who are still in the active service.
Navy records showed 73 retired officers have been staying in single-detached quarters while 25 other officers are staying in duplex-style quarters.
The Navy said the 98 retired officers have so far accumulated over P7 million in unpaid electricity and water bills.
In 1993, Domingo and Simon were served a "final notice of eviction" by the Navy after their retirement from the service.
Instead of complying with the directive to vacate, the two officers formed the NOVHI and questioned the legality of their eviction before the Makati City court.
The group were able to obtain a temporary restraining from the court and later elevated their case before the CA where they finally won an injunction.
Even after the government appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court which sustained the CA’s injunction order in 2004, the dispute over the land is still pending before the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 141.