NCIP told: Cancel Wright Park ancestral land titles

By Isagani S. Liporada

BAGUIO CITY – The city government last week petitioned the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to issue temporary restraining order (TRO) and injunctive writ barring conveyance of lands covered by overlapping land titles in Wright Park.

It likewise asked NCIP to recall its resolutions awarding Certificate of Ancestral Land Titles (CALT) to heirs of Josephine Abanag, which lands are already covered by titles in the name of the Baguio City and the Republic, praying said CALTs be cancelled.

In an 8-page petition, the city government represented by mayor Mauricio Domogan claimed CALT Nos. CAR BAG-1110-000276 to 1110-000303 and Original Certificate of Title (OCT) CALT-130 were fraudulently acquired by the respondent heirs.

The controversy over the overlapping titles was sparked by requests for certificates of zoning clearance on properties offered as collateral for bank loans filed with the City Planning and Development Office of Baguio.

The city alleged CALT Nos. CAR BAG-1110-000276 to 1110-000303 appeared to have been registered with the Land Registration Authority, Dec. 8, 2010, and the Registry of Deeds thereafter issued CALT-130.

CALT-130 (102, 302 sq. m.) thereafter was further subdivided into 31-parcels of lot divided among purported heirs.

The new Transfer Certificates of Title (TCT) include those numbered 018-2010002797-2828 as per a December 8, 2010 memorandum of encumbrance on the face of CALT-130.
Private persons under whose names the parcels are now titled include Mercedes Tabon, Joan Gorio, Virginia Gao-an, and Isias Abanag.

Of the 31-parcels, Lot 5 designated under the name of the heirs of Abanag and Mercedes Tabon overlapped with Lot 67 covered by TCT T-32093 in the name of the City Government. The city property has an area of 5,885.70 sq. m.

City legal officer Melchor Rabanes in a separate interview said, “Wright Park and other public realties were also included in CALT-130.”

“These lands are intended for public welfare and service… they cannot be covered by ancestral claims pursuant to section 7 of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (RA 8371).”

Quoting Section 56 of the same law he added, “Property rights within ancestral domains existing before the IPRA law shall be recognized and respected.”

Meanwhile, Rabanes said the city likewise asked NCIP to prevent the Registry of Deeds of Baguio from processing titles over the same property.

Domogan earlier filed the notice of adverse claim on behalf of the city.

However, the ROD denied the city’s notice annotation averring, “There is a March 20, 2011 TRO [by NCIP] ordering ROD to refrain from registering the adverse claim….”

In a May 9 letter to the ROD however, Rabanes said, “The ROD cannot use the TRO issued by NCIP as the city represented by the mayor is not a party to NCIP case No, 13-CAR-11 where the TRO was issued.”

He reminded Ampaguey, “We emphasize the fact that your duty to register the adverse claim to protect the city’s titled property is ministerial in character….”

Earlier, ROD staff Ruby Villa already filed a misfeasance and grave misconduct case against her department head Ampaguey.

In her complaint she alleged someone has been doing her side of the job of processing land titles beyond work hours in different dates in Dec. 2010.

She noted three activities affecting CALTs in violation of Land Registration Authority memos dated September 20 and November 5, 2010 staying processing of ancestral titles.

The CALTs alleged to have been processed under questionable circumstances included O-CALT-130.

For the local government’s side, the CLO is currently studying possible actions against Ampaguey.