DPWH hit for intrusion: SC sides with diocese in tiff over use of church property

SABANGAN, Mountain Province -- The Supreme Court ruled on the right of The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines the possession of its church lot here and held that the district engineer of Mountain Province and several contractors illegally intruded into the property to build a gymnasium in 2005.

In a 10-page decision penned by Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad, the SC second division reversed the decision of Court of Appeals dated Feb. 20, 2007 and reinstated the decision of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Bauko and Sabangan in Civil Case 329 in its entirety, thus entitling the EDNP to recover possession of the lot.

The EDNP, represented by Victorio Ananayo, convention secretary, had sought for reversal of CA ruling which held that the lower courts denied District Engineer, Mountain Province, department of Public Works and Highways right to due process.

The SC said: “Unfortunately, defendants succeeded in constructing the gym and demolishing petitioner EDNP’s church building. Still it does not prevent the Court from ruling that the defendants forcibly entered the lot and seized possession of it from EDNP, entitling the latter to recover possession. This is of course without prejudice to any further action for the determination in a proper case of the true ownership of the land.”

Petitioner EDNP, a religious corporation, constructed a church building for its congregation on a lot in Lengey, Barangay Poblacion, Sabangan, Mountain Province.

Sometime in 2005, a certain Tomas Paredes told members of petitioner that the Office of the District Engineer of the Mountain Province Engineering District, Department of Public Works and Highways was going to build a multi-purpose gymnasium on the lot of the church which ENDP objected.

After negotiations with Paredes, the parties agreed to have the gymnasium built instead on an area outside the church lot.

Later in October 2005, however, several men entered the church compound and began digging holes for the gym’s foundation. In a letter, petitioner appealed to private contractor Felipe Moises not to proceed with the construction.

It sent a separate letter to respondent District Engineer Leonardo Leyaley of MPED-DPWH, also requesting him to stop the construction.

But the construction continued, prompting the EDNP to file a complaint for forcible entry with prayer for temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction before the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Bauko and Sabangan against respondent District Engineer Leyaley and Moises in Civil Case 329.

On May 30, 2006, the MCTC rendered judgment and recognized petitioner EDNP’s right to possession of its church lot and holding that Moises and his men had illegally intruded into the property.