Title: NAGKAKAISANG MARALITA NG . SITIO MASIGASIG, INC., Petitioner vs.

MILITARY SHRINE SERVICES - PHILIPPINE VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE,

DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, Respondent. || WESTERN BICUTAN LOT
OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., represented by its Board of Directors, Petitioner, vs.
MILITARY SHRINE SERVICES - PHILIPPINE VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE,
DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, Respondent.
GR NO: G.R. Nos. 187587 & 187654
Date: 2013-06-05
Ponente: SERENO, CJ (FIRST DIVISION)

Facts:
The facts of the case are as follows:
● On 12 July 1957 (Proclamation No. 423) President Carlos P. Garcia reserved parcels of
land in the municipalities of Pasig, Taguig, Parañaque, Province of Rizal and Pasay City
for a military reservation (Fort William McKinley, renamed Fort Andres Bonifacio or
Fort Bonifacio).
● On 28 May 1967, President Ferdinand E. Marcos (President Marcos) issued Proclamation
No. 208, which excluded a certain area of Fort Bonifacio and reserved it for a national
shrine, now known as Libingan ng mga Bayani, under the administration of the
respondent.
● On 7 January 1986, President Marcos issued Proclamation No. 2476, which excluded
barangays Lower Bicutan, Upper Bicutan and Signal Village from the operation of
Proclamation No. 423 and declared it open for disposition.
● At the bottom of Proclamation No. 2476, President Marcos made a handwritten
addendum, which reads: “P.S. – This includes Western Bicutan (SGD.) Ferdinand E.
Marcos”.
● Proclamation No. 2476 was published in the Official Gazette on 3 February 1986,
without this handwritten addendum.
● Through the years, informal settlers increased and occupied some areas of Fort Bonifacio
including portions of the Libingan ng mga Bayani. General Order No. 1323 was issued
creating Task Force Bantay (TFB), primarily to prevent further unauthorized occupation
and to demolish illegal structures at Fort Bonifacio.
● On 27 August 1999, members of petitioner Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Sitio Masigasig,
Inc. (NMSMI) filed a Petition with the Commission on Settlement of Land Problems
(COSLAP), praying for (1) the reclassification of the areas they occupied in Western
Bicutan, from public land to alienable and disposable land; (2) the subdivision of the
subject lot by the Director of Lands; and (3) the Land Management Bureau facilitation of
the distribution and sale of the subject lot to its bona fide occupants.
● On September 1, 2000, Western Bicutan Lot Owners Association, Inc. (WBLOAI) filed a
Petition-in-Intervention praying for the same reliefs as those prayed for by NMSMI.
 ● On September 1, 2006, COSLAP issued a Resolution granting the Petition and declaring
the portions of land in question alienable and disposable. COSLAP ruled that the
handwritten addendum of President Marcos was an integral part of Proclamation No.
2476, and was therefore, controlling.
● Respondent MSS-PVAO filed a Motion for Reconsideration, which was denied by the
COSLAP in a Resolution dated January 24, 2007.
● MSS-PVAO filed a Petition with the Court of Appeals seeking to reverse the COSLAP
Resolutions. On April 29, 2009, the Court of Appeals First Division rendered the assailed
Decision granting MSS-PVAO’s petition.
● Both NMSMI and WBLOA appealed the said Decision by filing their respective Petitions
for Review with the SUpreme Court under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court.

Issues:
● Whether the Court of Appeals erred in ruling that the subject lots were not alienable and
disposable by virtue of Proclamation No. 2476 on the ground that the handwritten
addendum of President Marcos was not included in the publication of the said law.

Held:
● WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the instant petitions are hereby DENIED for
lack of merit. The assailed Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 97925
dated 29 April 2009 is AFFIRMED in toto. Accordingly, this Court's status quo order
dated 17 June 2009 is hereby LIFTED. Likewise, all pending motions to cite respondent
in contempt is DENIED, having been rendered moot. No costs.

Ratio:
● Article 2 of the Civil Code expressly provides: “Laws shall take effect after fifteen days
following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise
provided. This Code shall take effect one year after such publication.” Under the above
provision, the requirement of publication is indispensable to give effect to the law, unless
the law itself has otherwise provided. The phrase “unless otherwise provided” refers to a
different effectivity date other than after fifteen days following the completion of the
law’s publication in the Official Gazette, but does not imply that the requirement of
publication may be dispensed with.
● The issue of the requirement of publication was already settled in the landmark case
Tañada v. Hon. Tuvera, thus: “Mysterious pronouncements and rumored rules cannot be
recognized as binding unless their existence and contents are confirmed by a valid
publication intended to make full disclosure and give proper notice to the people.“
● Furthermore, under Section 24, Chapter 6, Book I of the Administrative Code, "[t]he
publication of any law, resolution or other official documents in the Official Gazette shall
be prima facie evidence of its authority." Thus, whether or not President Marcos intended
to include Western Bicutan is not only irrelevant but speculative.