Bacolod city hall project hits legal roadblock over land donation dispute

BACOLOD, Philippines – The P220-million reconstruction project at Bacolod’s old city hall has hit a snag due to a legal dispute between the city government and the heirs of the land’s original donor.

The issue surfaced when former councilor Archie Baribar on Wednesday, November 13, asked the city council to hold a public hearing, and cited a civil case pending in the Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 50 over the contested 2,000-square-meter property.

Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran confirmed receiving Baribar’s request, forwarding it to the city council’s secretariat for inclusion in their agenda next week.

Baribar, a lawyer, urged the council to investigate the city’s actions on the property to minimize future legal risks. Acting as an intervenor in the case, he said the city council needs to review and assess the situation first.

He argued that demolishing the old city hall and building a new structure goes beyond the original plan for mere refurbishment and could jeopardize the city government’s claim to the property.

Baribar recommended that the city council invite the mayor, city legal officer, the contractor, and the donor’s heirs.

However, City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting said the city council cannot hold a hearing on the matter while the court case is unresolved.

The heirs of the late Jose Ruiz de Luzuriaga, who donated the lot where the old city hall stands, filed a case to reclaim the more than 2,000-square-meter property, alleging the city government violated conditions in the deed of donation and improperly reconstituted the land title in its name.

Joemax Ortiz, the De Luzuriagas’ lawyer, said their move stems from what they see as city hall’s clear breach of the donation terms.

“We filed a civil case five years ago, and it is being heard in court. We are seeking the annulment of the title for the donated lot,” Ortiz said, citing a condition in the deed of donation, established during the administration of the late Mayor Romeo Guanzon in 1968, that was not followed.

Ortiz said the deed specifies that the city government would maintain the old city hall as the seat of government, with the offices of the mayor and city council located there.

In 2008, however, Bacolod built the New Government Center (NGC) in Barangay Villamonte, where almost all major offices were transferred.

Now, only the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and some national government agencies occupy the old city hall.

Given this, Ortiz said his clients’ attempt to reclaim the lot is valid because the old city hall is no longer the seat of the city government.

The five-year-old civil case, Ortiz added, is nearing its conclusion, with the last surviving heir of De Luzuriaga set to take the witness stand.

But Ting said the current civil case is solely about the lot title, explaining that the city government applied for a retitling of the property about 50 years ago.

Ortiz countered that his clients hold the original title, while the city’s is merely a reconstituted one.

The dispute surfaced nearly three months after the 56-year-old, L-shaped, three-story city hall building at the corner of Araneta and Luzuriaga streets downtown was demolished, with ESJ & Sons Construction, the P220-million project’s contractor, already beginning groundwork.

The reconstruction, funded by a P220 million allocation from Bacolod’s P4.4-billion loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), pushed through. On August 4, the city government and the contractor held a groundbreaking ceremony, proceeding despite the ongoing civil case.

“I don’t understand Mayor Albee Benitez’s reasoning for continuing with the reconstruction when he knows about the ongoing civil case,” Ortiz said. “If we win, then, unfortunately, we will reclaim the lot and the new building, if necessary.”

Ting, however, said it’s best to wait for the court’s final decision. – Rappler.com