SC junks Caloocan’s bid to cancel Gotesco land title

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition filed by the Caloocan City government seeking the cancellation of the land title of the 22,685-square meter land sold by former Caloocan City mayor Macario Asistio Jr. to Gotesco Investments Inc. in the early 1990s.

In a 15-page decision penned by Associate Justice Dante Tinga, the SC affirmed the Sept. 12, 2000 ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) which dismissed the complaint filed by former Caloocan City mayor Reynaldo Malonzo.

The high court said the Caloocan City government committed "forum shopping" or pursuing a case in different venues.

Court records showed that on Sept. 6, 1990, Asistio, with the approval of the Sangguniang Panglunsod, executed a deed of absolute sale for the property in favor of Ever Gotesco president Jose Go for P136.11 million.

Initially, the Commission on Audit (COA) disapproved the deal but it later yielded on condition that the selling price be pegged at P8,926.39 per square meter or P182.085 million for the entire property.

On Oct. 23, 1997, the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Caloocan passed another ordinance ordering the city government and Gotesco to execute an amended deed of absolute sale with terms and conditions pursuant to the COA decision.

Malonzo initially vetoed the ordinance, saying that the deed of sale executed by Asistio was still valid and subsisting. The Sangguniang Panglungsod, however, passed a resolution overriding the veto.

While Gotesco agreed to buy the property at P182 million and executed an express consent to execute a new deed of absolute sale, Gotesco failed to secure Malonzo’s signature.

Gotesco paid P182 million for the property, including P910,425.39 for transfer tax and P9.7 million for real estate tax after the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued an opinion that the deed of absolute sale may be registered with the Register of Deeds of Caloocan City.

On April 2, 1998, the Land Registration Authority (LRA) allowed the registration of the deed of sale. Thirteen days later, a transfer certificate of title was issued to Gotesco.

This, however, prompted Malonzo to file a special civic action seeking to enjoin the firm and the Register of Deeds from registering the alleged anomalous sale in 1990.

Malonzo also filed another case for the annulment of the sale and the cancellation of title while the suit is pending.