Thursday, October 23, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
THE Court of Appeals (CA) has junked the government’s petition seeking to stop the influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) from claiming ownership of a piece of real estate in La Union province.
The appellate court, in its eight-page decision penned by Associate Justice Romeo Barza, dismissed the argument of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) as unmeritorious.
The OSG, in its petition, argued that the evidence presented by INC to support its claim for application for a land title were “self-serving” and “did not meet legal and jurisprudential standards.”
Based on Presidential Decree 1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree, the OSG is authorized or mandated to represent the government on land registration proceedings or cases pertaining to land disputes so as to forestall any irregularities in the registration of properties of land.
The disputed property is a 275-squate meter lot located in Barangay San Gregorio, Caba, La Union.
In recognizing the INC’s right to own the property, the CA agreed with an earlier decision by the Caba, La Union municipal trial court that there was enough evidence to prove possession of the property.
Among the evidences presented by the INC were tax declarations dated 1947 and 1952 in the name of one Primo Peralta, the original owner of the land before it was purchased by and transferred to the INC.
The CA said that while tax declarations and realty tax payments were not conclusive evidence of ownership, it showed sincerity and honesty on the part of the INC.
“They constitute at least proof that the holder has a claim of title over the property. The voluntary declaration of a piece of property for taxation purposes manifests not only one’s sincere and honest desire to obtain title to the property,” the Court said.
The INC also presented a certification from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that the property was already “alienable and disposable” since 1940.
Likewise, the CA noted that no other individual claimed ownership over the said parcel of land in the past 30 years.
Under the civil code, ownership is ruled in favor of the person who has peaceful, continuous, and uninterrupted physical possession of the land for 10 years if in good faith and 30 years if the possessor is in bad faith.-- William B. Depasupil
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