Developer asks HLURB to dismiss land case

A real estate developer has asked the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) to dismiss the claims of a retired police colonel on its 78-hectare property in Las Piñas, where it is developing an upscale residential village across Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City.

State Properties Corporation (SPC) said Gonzalo Gonzales has no title to the property and cannot claim to own it.

SPC added that it filed a case of recovery of property based on ownership with injunction and damages against Gonzales as he refused to relinquish his post as a caretaker of SPC’s property.

The developer said the Court of Appeals has ruled in its favor on the ejectment case.

"This is purely a nuisance case and his complaint cannot progress at all," SPC told The STAR, noting that Gonzales "never owned the property. We merely hired him indirectly through his son and then his brother as caretaker of the property to keep out illegal settlers."

An executive of SPC said the Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the integrity of their title to the 78-hectare property in four rulings, the last one on Sept. 2, 1999 in a unanimous en banc decision that recognized SPC as the lawful registered owner of the property.

The High Tribunal stressed it already established the authenticity and validity of the mother title of the property and declared that "we cannot and should not review a case already passed upon by the Highest Tribunal. It is only proper to allow the case to take its rest."

SPC said it bought the 78-hectare property from the Espinosa family under its original name of Peltan Development Corp. Since the time of purchase, SPC has had continuous possession of the property and has been religiously paying all real estate taxes.

HLURB has issued SPC a license to sell off the disputed property after a thorough review of all legal documents the developer submitted, including a certified true copy of the title attesting that the property is free from all liens and encumbrances. – Rainier Allan Ronda