20 March 2023, from Gems:

Sir Angelito, you asked: “Why should the members of Ph678 have to worry too much about the groundbreaking by the PN?”

Well, here’s something we all need to realize. The Supreme Court’s final and executory decision pertains only to the four lots, with a total area of around 1,600 square meters, inside the PN Golf Course which were claimed for repossession and won by Abaya et. al. It has nothing to do with the groundbreaking incident, which was done outside the golf course. The dispositive portion of the SC decision covers only the liabilities of the Navy to the four winning petitioners.

The planned housing project of the Philippine encroaches a total area of 45,143 square meters or over 4.5 hectares of AFPOVAI lots, roads and open spaces included, outside and not inside the golf course. Sobrang laki nito. This covers five entire blocks consisting of blocks 99, 100, 101, 102 and 116, directly affecting 67 lot owners. Kawawa sila. And their area has not been subject to any court case.

So we have all the reasons to worry. Why?

Despite their knowledge of AFPOVAI’s mother title, the existence of TCTs, deeds of sale and orders of award, and DENR’s continuous processing of our lot applications – and their shared command concern for the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on the erstwhile long standing case against it by Abaya et. al. – the Philippine Navy acts to this day as though our real private properties do not exist.

The fact that the residential housing project got approved through by AFP and DND and earned funding from BCDA in an area that is legally established to be our private domain, but which they claim as theirs, odiously betrays their wanton disregard and gross disrespect for our private rights as lot owners.

Their leaders, therefore, do not seem to respect our Constitution, with its established commandment that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of laws.”

And that goes, by extension, to our applicable laws and articles, such as Article 435: “No person shall be deprived of his property except by competent authority and for public use and always upon payment of just compensation.” The PN Housing project, as a matter of fact, is not for public use, and the Navy is not a competent authority to expropriate our private land for other purposes. It would require in the least an act of the local government, that would follow the right legal process.

If the Navy’s leaders are seemingly acting above the law (ironically, the FOIC PN is a bar passer himself) in this particular instance of carving a big portion of our land without so much as showing the decency of talking with us at AFPOVAI, then who can constrain them from slicing other chunks of our real estate and/or permanently squatting on the entire AFPOVAI Phase 678 area for their own ends?

There must be a way to get them to act right being a respected branch of service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Finding that way is what we need to look for and everything we need to worry about.