Thursday, November 09, 2006
Court stops cancellation of Prime Peak land titles
By Jane Cadalig
BAGUIO CITY -- The Court of Appeals (CA) has barred the Presidential Decree (PD) 1271 committee from enforcing its resolution denying the application for transfer certificates of title (TCT) and the eventual cancellation of land titles of a subdivision developer in Baguio City.
The CA issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the PD 1271 committee resolution.
The PD 1271 committee, composed of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr., Solicitor General Antonio Nachura, Land Registration Authority (LRA) Administrator Benedicto Ulep and City Registrar Juanito Ampaguey, resolved that the application for validation of Prime Peak owner Gloria de Guzman over the properties located in Barangays Sto. Tomas and Outlook Drive could not be granted because the lot areas were expanded from their original sizes.
Claiming that the committee acted with grave abuse of discretion, Prime Peak filed a petition for certiorari before the CA.
While the petition is still pending, the CA issued a TRO against the PD 1271 committee, ordering its members to halt the implementation of its August 31 resolution that reportedly contained a marginal note from Ulep instructing the eventual cancellation of the titles.
"The immediate enforcement of said resolution dated August 31, of public respondent, PD 1271 committee, and the cancellation of the titles of the lots covered by the applications for validation of petitioner de Guzman will cause grave and irreparable injury to the petitioner," said part of the resolution penned by Associate Justice Hakim Abdulwahid.
"And so that the eventual ruling of the court in this petition may not be rendered moot and academic, a TRO is hereby issued, enjoining the PD 1271 committee from enforcing the assailed and canceling (the seven TCTs) effective for 60 days," the CA added.
The committee disapproved de Guzman's application for validation of the following lots: T-12824, T-12825, T-12826, T-12827, T-12828, T-12829, T-12830, T-12831 and T-12832.
Meanwhile, Prime Peak president Lorenzo Aguilar said that even with the issuance of a TRO, the firm would not dispose of any property covered by the contested areas. "The relief is only temporary and we will still await the final decision of the CA," he said.
The firm's lawyer, Emiliano Gayo, also explained that Prime Peak is actually not yet selling any property.
"Prime Peak is not in the stage of commercial selling yet as it is covered by a title that is yet to be validated. What is being (entertained now) are only reservations," he said. (Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (November 9, 2006 issue)
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