THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 10 will have to wait for the courts to settle the question of who owns the foreshore areas in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental to pursue its claims of unpaid leases against the city government.
In an en banc decision released this week, the Commission on Audit denied the petition of DENR Region 10 seeking payment of rent totaling P2,436,843.36 based on seven Foreshore Lease Agreements signed with Oroquieta City in 2003.
COA Chair Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana held that the claim was filed prematurely in light of a pending Petition for Declaratory Relief filed by the DENR before the Oroquieta City Regional Trial Court Branch 12.
“Apparently, there is an issue as to the ownership of the foreshore area which is already the subject of a pending petition for declaratory relief before the RTC-Branch 12. Thus, it is appropriate for the declaratory relief to be resolved first for a judicial determination on the issue of ownership over the foreshore area,” the Commission said.
Records showed that the local government of Oroquieta City signed seven Foreshore Lease Contracts with the DENR on January 31, 2003 for the authority to “use, utilize, and occupy a foreshore area comprising Barangays Poblacion, Poblacion II Lower Loboc, Tabuc Norte and Sur, Canubay, San Vicente Bajo, and Mobod.
The agreement required the city to pay annual rent for the 25-year duration of the contract.
However, after paying the first-year rental fee, the city government withheld payment of the rent for succeeding years.
According to the DENR’s petition, from 2004 to 2019 the unpaid rent has accumulated to P2.437 million per calculation by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).
The DENR’s civil case effectively challenged Section 98 of the Charter of the City of Oroquieta (Republic Act No. 5518) which states that: “The National Government hereby cedes to the City of Oroquieta the ownership and possession of all lands of the public domain within the city.”
Pending the resolution of the RTC case, the DENR Region 10 filed its claim before the COA on August 9, 2021 asking the commission to issue a directive compelling the local government to settle its obligation under the Foreshore Lease Agreements.
In its answer, the city acknowledged the existence of the contracts but denied their validity or enforceability, noting that a ruling by the RTC on the issue of ownership in its favor would have a direct bearing on the DENR claim.
“This Commission dismisses the petition for being premature pending the resolution of the petition for declaratory relief. This claim is prematurely filed and not yet ripe for adjudication by this Commission,” the COA added.
