8 cases over Sagada ‘park’ lot dismissed

By Dexter A. See

SAGADA, Mountain Province – All eight cases questioning the ownership of a prime lot in Kiltepan here were dismissed by the court and other quasi-judicial bodies in favor of legitimate owners of the same through the years.

The latest decision handed down by Judge Luis Daoen of the Municipal Circuit Trial court of Besao-Sagada dated December 7, 2012 dismissed the case of recovery of possession and damages filed by spouses Samuel B. Dawas, Sr. and Josephine Dawas against Wilson G. Capuyan for lack of jurisdiction.

In a decision dated October 4, 2012 on the case of forcible entry, Daoen declared the plaintiffs Florence B. Lamen and Graal Lamen-Militar the prior possessors of the disputed property and ordered the defendants Francis Maleng-an and spouses Samuel and Josephine Dawas to vacate the disputed property and turnover the material physical possession to the possessors of the same.

Furthermore, the defendants were ordered to stop introducing improvements on the aforesaid property.

On March 28, 2012, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples – Cordillera Administrative Region dismissed the opposition and protests  filed by Fely “Yakabbaw”Omengan and spouses Samuel and Josephine Dawas as well as the punong barangays of Kilong, Tetep-an Sur and Norte and Antadao  against the application for the issuance of certificate of ancestral land title (CALT) over the prime lot which was earlier filed by Wilson G. Capuyan for lack of merit.

On December 14, 2011, Judge Joseph Patnaan of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 35 based in Bontoc dismissed for lack of merit the petition for annulment of documents, quitting of title and damages filed by Francis Maleng-an against Graal Militar, Florence Lamen and Wilson Capuyan.

Patnaan also affirmed an earlier decision rendered by the MCTC of Besao-Sagada that dismissed the case of forcible entry and issuance of injuctive relief filed by spouses Samuel and Josephine Dawas against Wilson Capuyan for lack of jurisdiction.

On March 4, 1992, The Special 8th Division of the Court of Appeals affirmed the earlier decision of the RTC Branch 36 in Bontoc which found that the plaintiffs Felix Padcayan and Josephine Padcayan-Dawas, who are father and daughter, have no legal or equitable title to or interest in the real property subject of the suit that warranted its dismissed.

Alexander Sumedca won the cases that were filed against him by Basilio Lomiwes and Padcayan as the court ordered the latter to pay Sumedca the appropriate amount and turnover the property to him.

From the years 1962 to 19970, the Lam-en family reportedly bought a total of 31 hectares of land from various individuals from barangays Kilong, Tetep-an and Antadao. In the 1980’s, the family then built roads leading to and within their property and even levelled portions thereof, including the highest point as well as built Igorot-inspired houses with pig pens.

In 1982, the Lam-en family donated some 400 square meters of their property to the Bureau of Telecommunications where several telecommunication towers were built that facilitate the use of telephones within and outside the province that time but the aforesaid lot reverted back to the family after several years when the telecommunication facilities got burned and that the area was not utilized for its donated purpose by the said office since the 1990s.

Despite the introduction of improvements by the Lam-en family and the bureau of Telecommunications to the property, it can be noted that there were no complaints that were filed before the concerned barangays or the courts in relation to questions of ownership of the property.

In 2000, Capuyan was able to perfect the purchase of the adjacent property and in 2008, his family started building their cottage and planting various tree species within the property that they bought but no complaints were filed against them that time.

In January 2010, complaints started to be filed claiming ownership of the property where there individuals simultaneously filed their claims over the same.

Worst, the municipal council passed Ordinance No. 01-2009 declaring the property as a public property without even consulting the legitimate owners of the property of the Lam-ens and Sumedcas that was bought by the Capuyan family.

Capuyan pointed out the aforesaid facts clearly illustrate their legitimate claims over the area and that the acts being employed by some private individuals, who are in cahoots with some local officials, are blatant land grabbing efforts.

Capuyan narrated he bought 3 hectares of his 5-hectare property from the Lam-ens while the remaining 2 hectares was bought from the Sumedcas in 1962 and that he had been religiously paying the taxes of his property to the local government.