Government lawyers have asked the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to dismiss an adverse claim filed by the Philippine Agri-Business Center Corp. (PABC), a private farming firm, over two parcels of land in Busuanga, Palawan covered in a P51-billion lawsuit filed on July 27, 1987.
In a 10-page opposition filed on March 10, 2008, the Office of the Solicitor General and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said that the disputed properties are beyond private ownership after having been declared inalienable on Feb. 13, 1975 through Proclamation No. 1387 issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Based on the said statute, the 40,000-hectare Busuanga property was withdrawn from sale, settlement or any other form of disposition, exploration or exploitation.
The government pleading also cited that the PABC registered its acquisition of the properties only on May 12, 1975, or three months after Proclamation No. 1387 came into effect.
“Verily whatever rights PABC may have acquired thereon must necessarily yield or at least, be subjected to the rights of the government,” the government said.
The PABC had claimed two parcels of land located within the Busuanga property covered by Transfer Certificate of Titles No. 6110 and 6111 on the ground that they were not covered by any writ of sequestration issued by the PCGG in connection to Civil Case no. 0024. – Sandy Araneta