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OVER LOST LANDFILL SITE

City tells Cuña: Return of P16-M

THE anomalous sale of a 30-hectare land in Barangays Awai and Bolo in San Jacinto to the
Dagupan City government in 2002 during the term of then Mayor Benjamin Lim continues
to hound those involved in the questionable transaction 16 years hence.

The Dagupan City government sent a final demand letter on Nov. 16 to Jose Mariano Cunñ a,
the seller, demanding the return of P16.1 million with 12 percent legal interest per annum
since April 11, 2002, paid by the city since the land and the title were never delivered to the
city government.

City Legal Officer Geraldine N. Francisco sent the final demand letter to Cunñ a at his address
on A.B. Fernandez Avenue, Dagupan, City through his lawyer, Atty. Jason Mejia.

The Nov. 26 demand letter was a reiteration to the first demand letter sent dated Nov. 5 to
Cunñ a asking him to reimburse the amount (with the stated interest) "paid to you for the
purchase of that property, covered by Tax Declaration No.13028 and 4514".

The demand letter to Cunñ a reads partly: "Despite receiving the full amount of purchase
price, you violated your warranty as seller, when the DARAB (Department of Agrarian
Reform Adjudication Board) nullified the sale. due to claims of legitimate tenants and your
failure to deliver the property itself to the City".

Enclosed in Francisco's final demand letter was the 12-page order of DAR signed by
Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones dated August 16, 2018 which denied the
petition for exemption of the land in question from the coverage of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). and also directed the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer
of San Jacinto and Agrarian Reform Program Officer of Pangasinan to proceed with the
acquisition and distribution of the subject property under CARP.

Cunñ a was given five days to reimburse the amount (with interest) from receipt of the final
demand letter, otherwise the Dagupan City government "will seek redress from the Court".

It will be recalled that the DAR ruling maintained that the City of Dagupan "did not acquire
valid title to the subject landholding” as DAR also took note that the Deed of Absolute Sale
dated 18 December 2091 in favor of Cunñ a was null and void as it violated agrarian reform
laws.

The land bought by Dagupan City purposely as site of a sanitary landfill was originally a
part of the Estate of Juan Fernandez administered by Estrella F. Sangalang.
On December 18, 2000, Sangalang sold the property to Cunñ a for P7,000,000, prompting the
nine tenants with whom Fernandez had entered into agricultural leasehold contracts
earlier to file a petition for redemption on March 15,2002, against Sangalang, Cunñ a, and the
Land Bank of the Philippines with the Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board and
the DAR Adjudication Board (DARAB), Region 1.

And when Cunñ a sold the land to the city of Dagupan on April 11, 2002 for P16 million three
months later, the tenants amended their petition on August 26, 2002 to include the city of
Dagupan in the agrarian case.

Despite being served with a copy of the petition, the City of Dagupan, under then Mayor
Lim, did not file its answer to the petition.

DARAB dismissed the action for redemption and directed the records of the case to be
remanded to the DAR Provincial Office Operations Division for compulsory acquisition of
the land.

In a bid to recover the land, the city government on September 25, 2007, during the term of
Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr,. filed a letter-request seeking the exemption of the subject
landholding from the coverage of CARP on the grounds that the land has a slope of 18
percent or more and that the same is mainly barren and idle land unsuitable for agriculture.

The petition and the motion for reconsideration were denied by DAR Region 1. (Leonardo
Micua)