By MST
Business | Jul. 13, 2015 at 10:00pm [ manilastandardtoday.com ]
BLEMP
Commercial of the Philippines Inc. has filed a lis pendens with the Registry of
Deeds in Pasig City to warn the Presidential Commission on Good Government
against auctioning off 18.4-hectares of properties known as the ‘Payanig sa
Pasig’ lots.
Lis pendens,
which literally means a pending suit, refers to the jurisdiction, power or
control that a court acquires over a property involved in a suit pending final
judgment.
“Effectively,
it serves as an official and public notice that a particular real property is
in litigation, and serves as a warning that anyone who acquires interest over
the litigated property does so at his own risk,” said BLEMP lawyer Dennis
Manalo in a statement.
“More
importantly, it binds would-be purchasers of the litigated property to the
judgment or decree of the court, whether they are legitimate buyers or not,”
Manalo said.
The PCGG is
auctioning the property is based on its claim that it holds a reconstituted
title obtained after the Edsa revolution, through an assignment by alleged
Marcos crony Jose Campos.
Under the
law, however, a reconstituted title is rendered void if the original title
still exists. BLEMP said it was in possession of these titles. The company has
issued an open challenge to any document verification experts to prove the
titles were not original. No one has taken the challenge so far.
“My advice to
all the bidders is for them to consult and carefully deliberate with their
lawyers, because they are literally taking a multi-billion peso gamble and
leaving it up to the courts,” Manalo said.
“This case is
now entirely dependent on the legal merits of each claimant, and no matter how
you spin it, nothing will ever beat the original, physical titles that we have
in our possession,” he said.
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