Land title scam in GenSan much bigger – Pimentel

DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the land-grabbing issue involving spurious Original Certificates of Title in General Santos City is more serious than what was previously uncovered.

“Actually, the number is not just 6,000,” said Pimentel, who recently visited General Santos.

“In my estimate, these fake land titles might reach up to 10,000 in GenSan alone,” he said.

Pimentel said the development was so alarming there was a need to bring the cases to court.

“It should be one case per dispute so the judge can focus on the issues specific to each case,” he said.

During his visit to General Santos, Pimentel conducted an ocular inspection of one of the disputed pieces of land, a 707-hectare government property, which is located beside the airport.

Pimentel chairs the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which has been conducting a long-running investigation of the proliferation of fake land titles in the country, particularly in General Santos.

“Until we are able to clean the records of the Land Registration Authority, there will always be a big obstacle to commercial activities in areas covered by fake land titles,” Pimentel said.

In March, the Regional Trial Court of General Santos issued a temporary restraining order, which stopped the city’s Register of Deeds from registering the supposed sale of the state-owned property to individuals, who possessed fake land titles to it.

Among the fake titles were those that bore the name of Romeo Confesor, which are now being used by Jimmy T. Tang, owner of the Manila-based Avenue Electrical Supply Co., to lay claim on the property.

There were also spurious land titles that bore the names of Excelsa Lauron, Ralderico Confesor, and Julita Confesor.

The disputed piece of property was covered by an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 1992 to Alsons Development and Investment Co. (Aldevinco).

Under the terms of the Ifma, Aldevinco has developed and reforested the property.

—INQUIRER MINDANAO