SC upholds ownership claims of 4 retired military officers

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has upheld the ownership claim of four retired military officers to prime lots in a former housing project for soldiers in Taguig City, which the Philippine Navy had developed as part of a golf course.

In ending the decadeslong land dispute, the high tribunal agreed with the previous rulings of Taguig Regional Trial Court Presiding Judge Toribio Ilao Jr. and the Court of Appeals that stopped the Navy and the Philippine Navy Golf Club Inc. (PNGCI) from continuing to take possession of the properties.

The high court’s First Division ordered the Navy and PNGCI to pay P5,000 in monthly rental fees to retired military officers Merardo Abaya, Angelito Maglonzo, Ruben Follosco and Elias Sta. Clara from the time the properties were awarded to them in 1996 and 1998, until they have been turned over to the rightful owners.

—Marlon Ramos