CAPITOL wants an accounting of the amount paid to the Balilis for the purchase of the 25-hectare property in Tina-an, City of Naga.

This was contained in a manifestation or notice of claims with motion for accounting that Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla filed before Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso last Thursday.

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The verification was signed by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia last Sept. 28, before she left for the US.

The manifestation asks the court to order lawyer Romeo J. Balili and Amparo Balili “to account the proceeds of the sale and the subject lots of the Province of Cebu.”

Romeo is the executor of the estate of Luis Balili while Amparo is the widow.

Capitol consultant on information and revenue generation lawyer Rory Jon Sepulveda said Romeo’s report will answer insinuations that the money has been distributed.

“It will unearth questions on where the money went and who were paid. He (Romeo) is duty-bound to account for the sales,” said Sepulveda.

If the Balilis refuse to make an accounting, the Province will bring the matter to court, Sepulveda said.

The Province paid P98,926,800 to the Balilis for the Tina-an property.

But a relocation and survey of the property revealed that 80,124 square meters were submerged in seawater while 14,401 square meters are a mangrove area.

These have not been disclosed by the Balilis “to the great damage and prejudice of the Province of Cebu,” the motion read.

Refund

Last August, Capitol sent a letter to Romeo asking for the refund of P37,810,400, covering the areas under water or mangroves.

The property was bought at P400 per square meter.

“The response of Atty. Romeo Balili in this regard has not been categorical,” the pleading that lawyer Martinquilla prepared read.

Romeo earlier said he would convince the widow and the heirs to refund the Province, but nothing has come out of it yet.

In the same motion, Capitol noted its provisional claim to the titles that have been recommended for reversion.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 recommended to its central office the filing of reversion of titles of some lots in the Province of Cebu.

DENR said 80 percent of the entire property is inalienable.

Transfer certificate

According to the pleading, the Province has issued transfer certificates of titles for the properties.

But it recognized that DENR’s move may be prejudicial to the interests of the Province and that reversion cases may be ultimately filed in court with the probability that the properties would be declared inalienable and the titles null and void.

“That in order to protect its interests, the Province of Cebu intends to register, as it is now registering, its claims in the case and that the Balilis should be made to account for the proceeds of the sale and the subject lots to the Province of Cebu,” the motion also read.

The inquiry on the Balili land purchase by a panel formed by the executive department, headed by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Director Medardo de Lemos, has wrapped up its investigation and is expected to come up with recommendations next week.

Sepulveda, a member of the panel, said the investigation took longer than what was indicated in the executive order because of a parallel investigation by the Cebu Provincial Board.