By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
ANOTHER HYPER local issue in Bacolod City is the old city hall.
It has already been demolished to pave way for a modern structure worth P223 million.
Though the project under the present administration of Mayor Albee Benitez is, perhaps, noblest in essence, it recently met a legal roadblock.
Former councilor Archie Baribar revealed that there is an ongoing civil case regarding the property at the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court Branch 50. The heirs of the De Luzuriaga family filed a case to recover their donated land to the city.
The heirs contend that the city government violated a certain provision duly stated in the Deed of Donation entered into between the city and the late Jose Ruiz de Luzuriaga in 1968. Their legal counsel is Atty. Joemax Ortiz.
Ortiz, in an interview, confirmed that indeed they have an ongoing five-year-old civil case against the city re: donated land for old city hall, and such is nearing conclusion.
The case, explained Ortiz, centered on the donated land, around 2,000 square meters. De Luzuriaga’s descendants wanted to annul donation, and to recover the land after the city transferred the seat of government from the old city hall on the corner of Lacson-Luzuriaga streets in the downtown area to the New Government Center (NGC) in Barangay Villamonte in 2008.
The donation states that the land shall be utilized for city hall with the mayor’s and Sangguniang Panlungsod’s offices present there.
But since both the mayor’s and SP’s offices are no longer there, Ortiz pointed, such is already tantamount to violating the Deed of Donation. Thus, he is confident they will win the case.
City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting, however, has a different legal perspective over the situation.
Ting in several media interviews insisted that Ortiz, or the de Luzuriagas, can no longer recover the land because the title has already been under the city more than five decades ago.
Ting said the city bought that piece of land from the provincial government.
This, a Ting said it was de Luzuriaga who donated the land to the province and the latter sold it to the city.
Ting’s legal point was quite far from what Ortiz is stressing.
Lately, however, Ting said the city government is asking the provincial government to help locate the original title of the contentious lot property.
So, it means Ting is uncertain with his legal point over the matter.
Question: Could a donated land be sold?
Asked for comment, Ortiz simply retorted: “We have the original title and it is now with the court.”
He added that theirs is the original title while the city’s is merely reconstituted.
“So, we have the legal edge,” he stressed.
In layman’s understanding the issue at hand can simply be premised on ipso facto, Latin phrase for “by the mere fact”.
The mere fact that there is an ongoing civil case means the subject lot or property is contentious in nature, or status.
And if it is contentious, then it is elementary that you cannot effect any development or redevelopment in the area until the case is over.
Ting, as far as my legal knowledge is concerned, cannot argue that the present civil case against the lot property where the old city hall stood has nothing to do with redevelopment project. It has, really!
What if the court decides later in favor of the heirs of de Luzuriaga?
Ortiz, again, simply said: “Will take over the lot, including the new building in case.”
Ortiz’s pronouncement carries weight.
In government transactions, the city government must refer to both Republic Act 7169 (Section 335) and the Auditing Code of the Philippines (Section 4).
The gist of the twin statutes says that public money and property cannot be used for private purposes.
Now, if the city wins the case against the de Luzuriagas, well and good.
But what if the other way around happens?
The old folks’ common expression is: “Daku gid nga sinti baka’!”
The civil case is still being heard thus the city government must have to wait for the verdict.
Moving forward with the redevelopment of the old city hall sans considering the ongoing civil case is bit legally complicated./PN
