FOR the second time in two years, the Sandiganbayan upheld the primacy of the government’s right to recover ill-gotten wealth, throwing out a contrary claim by a person who claimed he had paid for a parcel of land in Cagayan province that was forfeited in favor of the state in 2015.
In a five-page resolution dated July 18, 2024, the anti-graft court’s Second Division held that the buyer’s right did not attach to the property because the sale happened while the land was still the subject of a court case to determine ownership.
This was stated in the annotation at the back of the original certificate of title (OCT) No. 01111 (s).
The court said third-party claimant Benito Dy, who was not a party in the case, took a gamble when he bought the property despite it being encumbered by a pending court action.
“A notice of is pendens is an announcement to the whole world that a particular real property is in litigation, serving as a warning that one who acquires an interest over said property does so at his or her own risk, or that he or she gambles on the result of the litigation,” the Sandiganbayan said.
The property was previously listed as an asset of Taggat Industries Inc. and Alfonso Lim Sr. who were both named respondents in Civil Case No. 0030.
Based on a December 14, 2015 decision of the Sandiganbayan, parcels of land owned by Taggat were declared as part of the ill-gotten wealth of Lim Sr. and forfeited in favor of the government, along with several other assets, including hundreds of hectares of land in Rizal and Batangas.
Filed in 1987, the case alleged that Lim used his connections to former strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos to amass ill-gotten wealth by securing more than 533,880 hectares of timber concessions — way beyond the maximum allowable area of 100,000 hectares set under the 1973 Constitution.
Among the assets sought by the Presidential Commission on Good Government were tracks of land in Rizal province measuring 4.96 hectares and 56.7 hectares; farmland in Batangas property with an area of 129.15 hectares; and four properties in Claveria, Cagayan measuring 8.1 hectares, 6 hectares, 2 hectares, and 0.82 listed in the name of Taggat Industries.
Since Dy decided to buy the property in auction despite its involvement in a pending case, he is bound by the outcome.
At the same time, the Sandiganbayan noted that this is the second time that Dy had asked the court to award in his favor real property assets of Taggat Industries already won by the government.
In his previous attempt involving a different lot also in Claveria, Cagayan, the court had already denied his claims.
“It is perplexing that Dy …has filed a second motion identical to the first. Did he expect a different outcome? It is imperative that litigants should not be allowed to file identical motions repeatedly, speculating on the possible change of opinion,” the court said.
It issued a “stern warning” that further attempts to file “identical and superfluous motions” will result in the imposition of penalties.
Associate Justice Arthur O. Malabaguio penned the resolution with the concurrence of Associate Justices Geraldine Faith A. Econg and Edgardo M. Caldona.