Friday, October 13, 2006 Collection of parking fees at Cathedral legal: lawyer By Rimaliza Opiña
A LAWYER for the Catholic Apostolic Vicar (CAV) of Mountain Province, now known as the Catholic Diocese of Baguio City, said Thursday that the collection of parking fees at the Baguio Cathedral grounds is in accordance with the law.
During Thursday's special session of the City Council, lawyer Miguel Liceralde Sr. clarified that the Father Carlu Loop, covering transfer of Certificates of Title T-73500, T-73502 and T-73503, and which bears an annotation that the City of Baguio could use the area for street purposes or that the city could exchange it with another parcel or parcels of land to be used also for the same purpose, could not be used as basis to stop the collection of parking fees.
He claimed that declaring the area as a public land needs judicial action, the reason why the Catholic Diocese of Baguio intends to file a petition in court to seek the nullification of the annotation.
"It was an inappropriate condition," said Liceralde, explaining that the annotation was unilaterally carried over from the original titles of the lot.
He added that nowhere in the records of the Catholic Diocese and the Registry of Deeds would show that the area was donated to the City Government.
Without a deed of donation, he said the area remains as a private property of the diocese.
Liceralde's claim was confirmed by City Engineer Leo Bernardez and City Assessor Augustus Medina.
Bernardez said the disputed lot is now occupied by the Antipolo Building, Puso ng Baguio Building, Porta Vaga shopping center and the Patria de Baguio Building, all located along Upper Session Road, near the Baguio Cathedral. "We can't understand why there was such an annotation," he said.
The Catholic Diocese of Baguio, meantime, turned down the suggestion to stop the collection of parking fees pending the court's decision of their petition.
This as Liceralde said the amount collected is being used to recover expenses incurred when the Cathedral grounds were concreted in the first quarter of this year. The amount is also used for the compensation of personnel manning the Cathedral's gates.
The lawyer also said that the Permits and Licensing Division of the City Treasurer's Office (CTO) gave them the authority to collect parking fees.
Councilor Federico Mandapat Jr. earlier filed a proposed resolution seeking a stop to the collection of parking fees at the Cathedral, saying the Catholic Church should not be exempt from collecting fees within a "public property".
Mandapat said the collection of parking fees in the area also contravenes the condition of the donation.
The City Council, meanwhile, ordered the CTO to issue a certification that the Catholic Diocese was indeed granted a business permit and for the same office to monitor the issuance of official receipts.
(October 13, 2006 issue) Write letter to the editor. Click here. Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here.
