THE approved bill that seeks to confirm the validity of existing land titles in the Banilad friar lands estate will become law if no veto is issued by the end of March, even if President Arroyo doesn’t sign the bill.
Her signature, in the absence of a veto, will only speed up the bill’s enactment into law.
Once published in the Official Gazette and enacted, the new law will resolve all land ownership controversies in favor of the title-holder, regardless of who makes the claim.
The Banilad friar lands cover 19,029,188 square meters in Cebu City’s north district.
Among those affected by the bill, originally proposed by north district Rep. Raul del Mar and passed by the Senate Tuesday last week, will be the heirs of Francisco Alonzo and the Cebu Country Club.
The two entities both claim a parcel of land in Banilad where the Country Club’s clubhouse, restaurant and other facilities are located.
In 2002, the High Tribunal stated that the land belongs to the National Government because both parties were not able to satisfy the requirements of Sec. 18 of the Friar Lands Act (Act 1120) to make any valid claims.
The ruling was upheld en banc a year after.
Section 18 of Act 1120 provides: “No lease or sale made by the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands (now the Director of Lands) under the provisions of this Act shall be valid until approved by the Secretary of the Interior (now, the Secretary of Natural Resources). Thus, petitioners’ claim of ownership must fail in the absence of positive evidence showing the approval of the Secretary of Interior.”
“Approval of the Secretary of the Interior cannot simply be presumed or inferred from certain acts since the law is explicit in its mandate,” it adds.
Section 1 of the Del Mar bill confirms the validity of land titles within the estate, even if the sale certificates and assignment of sales certificates lack the signatures of the secretary of the interior or the chief of the Bureau of Public Lands.
In the June 1, 2005 explanatory note attached to House Bill 4400, del Mar said he wanted to remove the “cloud of doubt” that has been raised over titleholders and “bring peace and stability to a large segment of the Cebuano community.”
Del Mar referred to the SC ruling in the Alonzo vs. Cebu Country Club case, saying the “judicial pronouncement” invalidated the titles just because they do not bear the actual signatures of the secretary of the interior and the public lands bureau chief.
“The cloud of doubt over the existing and current certificates of title duly registered and issued by the Registry of Deeds of Cebu Province and Cebu City, if not removed, would cause serious disturbance of the land titles affecting the entire first district of Cebu City,” del Mar said.
“Commercial and banking transactions involving these former friar lands, not to mention residential possession and ownership, would become highly questionable, clearly unfair and unjust to the present landowners,” he said.
Del Mar maintained that the presumption of regularity over all government transactions favors the existing landholders.
They “have always been recognized as absolute owners thereof and their ownership has never been questioned or contested by the National Government or any of its offices and agencies,” he added. (KNR)
