OSG steps into QC land row; judge defies House

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is looking into a case involving a 24-hectare prime property in Quezon City that was awarded by a regional trial court judge to a suspected landgrabber.

The judge who awarded the land, Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon of Branch 224 and her clerk of court, Arnaldo Mendieta, on the other hand, defied a subpoena issued by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. last week. She had been given until Wednesday to turn over to the committee the records of the case.

Solicitor General Joel Cadiz told reporters at the Department of Justice yesterday that they are “now investigating what really happened” in the case, which has been pending since 1995. He denied allegations that the OSG has not been acting on the case.

During a hearing in the House on this issue, some congressmen faulted the OSG for not challenging Villordon’s decision to award the land to Wilfredo Torres despite the opposition of the Land Registration Authority (LRA) and the fact that thousands of homeowners have their respective titles to their lots.

Tupas chairs the House committee on justice, which is investigating Torres’ claim over the property, where at least six subdivisions, a children’s school, a builder’s depot, and a seminary are located.

The summons commanded Mendieta, to whom the subpoena was addressed, to turn over to the committee records of the land dispute case by Wednesday.

Instead of case records, the committee received a letter signed by Villordon, who is a former House employee, and Mendieta, informing the panel that they could not turn over the documents without permission from the Supreme Court. The two said they have written the high court to seek such permission.

It was Villordon who ordered the Quezon City Register of Deeds early this year to issue seven reconstituted titles to Torres despite opposition from the LRA, which had found Torres’ mother title to be spurious and the residents’ titles to their lots to be genuine.

When registry chief Elbert Quilala refused to issue titles to Torres, Villordon ordered his arrest and detention. It was only after he was jailed that Quilala issued seven titles to the suspected landgrabber.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., who moved for the production of case records during the committee’s first hearing last week, said they need the documents to check the history of the controversy.

“We were informed that there was a 1997 decision awarding the land to Torres. Under the law, that decision, if it existed, could be enforced only for 10 years or until 2007. What was exactly the case Villordon ruled on? We want to verify those things,” he said.

He said Villordon and Mendieta did not have to seek permission from the Supreme Court for the turnover of public records.

“There should be no conflict between the House and the Supreme Court. It is they who are creating it,” he said.

He said the justice committee would decide what to do with Villordon and Mendieta if it does not get the documents it needs by next Tuesday or Wednesday, when it holds another hearing.