Vol. XXI, No. 231 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
THE OFFICE of the Solicitor General (OSG) has asked the Court of Appeals to nullify an auction held on Friday involving a prime property in Pasay City.
The contested area covers 24 hectares of the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex currently occupied by the "Boom na Boom" festival grounds and the Film Center.
In a manifestation, the state counsel asked the appellate court to nullify the auction, which was an offshoot of a writ of execution released by the sheriff of the Pasay Regional Trial Court after the government failed to pay P49 billion to expropriate 77 hectares of the complex.
The issue stemmed from a Supreme Court (SC) decision in 1998 that awarded the entire complex to the National Government and ended a 37-year land dispute between the state and Republic Real Estate Corp. (RREC).
RREC was set up by retired US soldier Harry Stonehill in the 1960s. Mr. Stonehill was a close associate of President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
The city government contracted RREC in 1959 to recover a portion of Manila Bay to expand the maritime commerce industry. It was given the option to buy 180 hectares of the 300 hectares to be reclaimed at P10 per square meter.
The National Government, however, contested the contract in 1961.
In a ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the Executive to pay RREC and the Pasay government P10.9 million plus 6% interest per annum from May 1, 1962 for expenses in dredging the reclamation area.
In a writ of execution dated May 8, 2007, however, the sheriff of the trial court handling the expropriation process ordered the National Government to pay its obligations, which has ballooned to P49 billion, pursuant to the SC order.
Failure to do so would mean a forfeiture of assets that will subsequently be sold through auction.
The OSG, however, moved to quash the order, saying the obligations were way below P49 billion.
It eventually haled the issue before the appellate court after failing to persuade the sheriff against issuing a notice of sale.
A temporary restraining order from the appellate court came in late on the auction day last June 20. The lots were sold to the Pasay government and RREC for P11.95 billion.
The OSG claimed RREC and the Pasay government were to blame for the non-implementation of the 1998 SC decision to this day.
"They have incessantly looked for ways and means and had in fact exhausted all legal remedies by which they can alter the said decision of the Supreme Court in their favor but to no avail," the OSG said.
BusinessWorld tried but failed to reach RREC. — Ira P. Pedrasa
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