Twisted justice on Ibaloy Day

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

Belated happy Ibaloy Day! Some lawyers I know use their influence and popularity, bully court personnel to the extent of filing cases against them if they do not get what they want, and usually win the first round in a court case. Normally, the losing party files an appeal but it loses again, technically this time, because the appeal is dismissed right away and the other side is not given the chance to argue. Again the winning is secured through influence, dictates and manipulation.

More than a hundred years ago after Spain ceded these islands to the United States and after we were told many times over that no one will be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor be denied equal protection of the laws; we still find cases where lands, especially those actually occupied and in the possession of indigenous communities, are being grabbed by prominent parties with the support of counsels through courts that act as eager and willing partners.

I do not know how true this is but a lawyer-friend admitted that lawyers do not lie in court but they do not tell the correct things. In many instances they twist the facts to suit their needs, then it is up to the judge if he or she reacts correctly, or cooperatively turns the court into a venue for a one-sided fight.

In cases involving Ibaloy lands in Baguio and Benguet, research work showed that there are supposed Deeds of Sale that are not recorded with the proper offices so that these do not become official and are of no value. Next, the land is issued a title administratively or through a manipulated bidding process. Then the supporting documents and necessary attachments to the “fake” title come later.

In such case, no folder of documents for the land cannot be found in any DENR office because the documents have to be hidden from scrutiny. And since there are neither records of a title nor other documents found in the DENR offices, any new application for a title over the said land can now freely be issued, but based on complete and genuine requirements.

The overused excuse of land grabbers is that they acquire the land through miscellaneous sales applications and public bidding. Although often times, land speculators are not aware that forested lands in the Cordillera or those certified by the DENR as timberland are not alienable and not disposable through bidding except by IPs who are the actual occupants of the land. By the way, lands cleanly acquired under MSA are limited to 1,000 square meters.

Another excuse for land speculators is that they won a land dispute case in court and present a paper title. But lands acquired through MSA or the courts have requirements. The applicant must have occupied in good faith the land applied for, and have constructed a house on the land where his family is actually residing. The land applied for must also have an approved plan and technical description.

In some cases, the lot applicants do not even know the location of the land applied for, and therefore, have not stepped on the land. When asked why they do not know where the land is located, they will say that they are innocent buyers from a party who sold it to them. Needless to say that a land application that has been processed and issued a title comes under suspicion if the applicant has never seen the land he applied for. There is also a suspicion of anomaly in the sale if the buyer does not know the location of the land that he bought.

In Baguio and Benguet, there are records with the DENR that show that some land applications that were issued titles were never processed in the District Lands Office concerned, nor are there any files found in the Land Management Office. Even the survey plans if there are any, or technical descriptions of the concerning said lands as patented were never plotted in the projection map.

In cases where both claimants have no title over the land, there are many factors to consider like actual possession and occupation. The one who occupies the land in good faith has better rights as against someone who possesses doubtful documents or has recently acquired a land title without the knowledge of the one in possession.

Lawyers and judges know these. But in a case that has to be won by all means, the situation changes. This time, only one person makes the laws or decides the case and we no longer live in a “government of laws” but of men. We come under the laws of the influential, the expert manipulator, or the king who is allowed to decide which decisions are to be enforced.

What I understand is that laws should be applied fairly to everyone without consideration of positions, reputations or personal relationships with others. In contrast, a government of men would be subjective, depending on the relationship of those administering the laws and those against whom so-called court decisions are to be enforced.

If this keeps on, all IP lands will be lost!