Solon asks SC to void sale of reclaimed land

A lawmaker has petitioned the Supreme Court to rescind the sale of a 41-hectare reclaimed seaside property along Manila Bay in Parañaque City to a private company for allegedly being unconstitutional.

In a 33-page petition for prohibition and mandamus, Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta said the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) violated the 1987 Constitution when it sold the reclaimed land to Manila Bay Development Corp. (MBDC) in 1988 for P472 million.

The prime property, located at Barangay Tambo in Parañaque, is now reportedly worth at least P61 billion. It is part of a sprawling commercial complex called “Entertainment City,” which hosts several casinos and other business establishments.

Owned by the state

In seeking to nullify the 30-year-old transaction, Marcoleta argued that Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution explicitly stated that “all lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum … and other natural resources are owned by the state.”

He said no less than the high court had previously declared in its landmark decision in Chavez vs PEA and Amari that “inalienable lands of the public domain embrace the foreshore and submerged areas of the Manila Bay.”

In that ruling, the high court revoked the 2002 sale of a 368-hectare reclaimed property to Amari Coastal Bay Development Corp. by the PRA, then known as the Public Estates Authority (PEA).

“The subject reclaimed property is an inalienable land of the public domain and beyond the commerce of man. It had never become alienable nor disposable,” Marcoleta said in his April 19 petition.

‘Unconstitutional’

“Thus, the sale or conveyance thereof to respondent MBDC is undeniably null and void,” he said. “This disposition … is clearly unconstitutional and illegal.”

The party-list lawmaker also urged the 15-member high court to repossess the reclaimed land in favor of the government, since its sale was “patently void ab initio (from the start).”

In addition, Marcoleta asked the high tribunal to order the registry of deeds of Parañaque to annul all certificates of titles issued to MBDC and the Light Rail Transit Authority for the sale of the property.

He likewise asked the magistrates to direct the Commission on Audit to issue a notice of disallowance to the PRA.