Quezon City Register of Deeds Elbert Quilala on Wednesday admitted to issuing a spurious title for 23.7 hectares of prime property in Quezon City in favor of suspected land-grabbing syndicate leader Wilfredo Torres.
Appearing before the justice committee of the House of Representatives, Quilala said he was fully aware that the property had already been validly issued to others.
He said he issued the title to Torres under pain of indirect contempt orders from two branches of the regional trial court in the city, one of which was hearing the land dispute between Torres and spouses Manuel and Rosalina Aliño.
“Yes, I admit that we issued (the title) and I regret very much that it had to happen under my watch. But apparently we were just complying with the orders of the court,” Quilala said.
He said that Branches 98 and 224 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court issued the orders.
Quilala said he knew what he did was wrong because based on the records of the Registry of Deeds, the same lot had already been subdivided and titled.
Jeers
His statement drew jeers from residents and landowners affected by the land dispute who were present at the hearing and raised eyebrows of members of the House.
“If that’s valid [titles previously issued to others], why did you still issue [one] in favor of Torres? You should just have yourself jailed,” said an exasperated Niel Tupas Jr., committee chairman, to the cheers of the audience.
Quilala answered that he was arrested and detained for less than a day on April 9, a Saturday, on his way to attend the wedding of his lawyer, for not immediately complying with the court order.
He said he was released on his own recognizance to give him a chance to comply with the court order.
Also, he was fined P10,000 but this cancelled after his motion for reconsideration was granted.
Quilala denied speculations he was in cahoots with Torres or any land-grabbing syndicates operating in the city.
“They can say whatever they want but the records in the Registry of Deeds, the LRA (Land Registration Authority), the court, are clear,” he stressed.
Disputed property
The disputed property encompasses Sanville 1, 2, 3 and 4 subdivisions which include the K-Ville townhomes, K-Square and Metro Heights subdivisions, Arfel Homes, Sadel Court, Fernwood Gardens(including the St. Francis Chapel) and a portion of the Claret Seminary—all in Barangay Culiat; and the Montessori School of Quezon City and a Wilcon Builders outlet under construction on Visayas Avenue.
The ownership dispute started on Oct. 31, 1990, when Torres filed a civil suit against the Aliños, the supposed registered owners of the property.
Torres claimed that his late mother, Dominga Roxas Sumulong, was the original owner of the land before she agreed to sell it to the Aliños on March 4, 1967, for P4.3 million.
Torres said he decided to sue the Aliños after he found out that the couple were able to register the property in their names despite their failure to pay his mother in full.
Leachon ruling
In 1996, Judge Emilio Leachon, then assigned to QC RTC Branch 224, granted Torres’ petition to forfeit the supposed sale. In September 1997, Leachon ordered the reconstitution of the transfer certificates of title (TCTs) allegedly burned in a 1988 fire at Quezon City Hall.
Since Leachon’s 1996 ruling became final and executory in 1997, Torres had forfeited his chance to enforce the order as the 10-year prescriptive period in securing a writ of possession expired in 2007.
Torres then petitioned the court in November 2010 to revive Leachon’s favorable decision.
Writ of possession
On May 26, Judge Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon, Leachon’s successor, granted Torres a writ of possession on the property and directed the Quezon City assessor’s office “under pain of contempt” to immediately issue a transfer of tax declaration for the new TCT in Torres’ name.
The court sheriff, assisted by some 100 policemen and armed security guards, swooped down on Montessori school and the Wilcon construction site on September 6 to execute the court order. They failed to gain control of the property because of resistance from Wilcon.
Negligence
Manila Representative Amado Bagatsing, former vice chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), noted negligence on the part of the LRA and the Registry of Deeds for not informing the judge that the 24-hectare property had already been validly titled.
“Did you not inform the court? Did the Land Registration Authority, or the Registry of Deeds of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) exhaust and submit all documents necessary for the judge to rule on the case?” Bagatsing asked.
LRA Administrator Eulalio Diaz said the OSG submitted in court a land titling verification task force’s report stating that the Dominga Sumulong title was spurious during court hearings in 2005.
An OSG representative replied “no” when asked by Tupas if the OSG had bothered to submit in court a map showing that the property was already occupied with valid TCTs.
Quilala informed the committee that in the present case, there was no Aliño title to be canceled, so the remedy for Torres was to go to court and file for reconstitution of the Aliño title.
For four years, he said, the register of deeds was able to hang on to the belief that the property could not be transferred until it was compelled this year to issue the title on pain of contempt.
Quilala explained that the register of deeds was not impleaded as a nominal party in cases of personal action in which two private individuals are fighting for land in court.
In cases of reconstitution, he said, the register of deeds was a compulsory party duly represented by the OSG.
But Tupas was not impressed. He insisted that the Register of Deeds, the LRA and the OSG should have exhausted all means to inform the judge of the multiple valid titles already issued.
“Based on the Torrens system of land registration, we’re here to protect the integrity and stability of the system. But the problem is you did not inform the court,” Tupas said.
He noted that the OSG only bothered to inform the court this month when an order in favor of Torres had already been issued.
Not first time
Lawyer Pamela Felizuerta, former HUDCC deputy secretary general, said it was not the first time that a property was reconstituted by the register of deeds based on spurious titles.
Felizuerta cited the case of a 24-hectare property of the government, the National Government Center East side, also located in Quezon City, that was reconstituted two years in favor of one Pedro Casimiro.
She said that Quilala was tasked by the court to reconstitute the property but HUDCC made all efforts to stop the court from enforcing it by pointing out that the title was fake. The case is still pending in court.
Torres himself did not attend the hearing despite an invitation issued by the committee. Tupas said he would issue a subpoena to compel Torres’ appearance in the next hearing and to explain why he should not be cited for contempt for snubbing the hearing.
Representative Sherwin Tugna of the Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption said informal settlers and not just well-to-do families living in the area were also affected by the court decision in Torres’ favor.