ALI asks SC to reverse ruling on Las Piñas property

AYALA LAND Inc. (ALI) has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to reconsider its decision nullifying the property giant’s ownership of around 46 hectares of land in Las Piñas City.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, ALI said it filed its motion for reconsideration with the SC on Sept. 28.

The SC had granted rightful ownership of the land, located inside Ayala Southvale Subdivision, to petitioners Yu Hwa Ping and Mary Gaw, as well as the heirs of Andres Diaz and Josefa Mia.

The High Court noted irregularities in the process of land registration, citing that the land surveys used for its registration less than 90 years ago were invalid and should in turn be nullified in order to protect the public and the Torrens system.

However, ALI said before it acquired the property in 1998, it had conducted an investigation of the titles.

“( ALI) had no notice of any title or claim that was superior to the titles purchased by ALI. ALI believes its titles are superior to the claims of these adverse claimants,” it noted.

ALI said its motion for reconsideration stressed that its Original Certificates of Titles (OCTs) can be traced back prior to the OCTs of the claimants’ title, specifically in 1950 and 1958, as opposed to the OCTs of claimants which were issued in 1970.

The property developer also noted that predecessors of claimants had initially opposed ALI’s application for the original land registration, but then lost in favor of ALI’s predecessors.

ALI added that its purchase of the properties were made after an examination of its derivative titles, “thereby making ALI an innocent purchaser for value.”

The disputed land forms part of the company’s total land bank of 9,852 hectares. With the property making up less than 1% of this figure, ALI said the procedures will not have any material effect on its business, operations, and financial conditions.

ALI booked an 18% increase in its net income for the January to June period to P9.7 billion. The company enjoyed solid sales reports from its residential brands for the period, contributing to an 18% rise in consolidated revenues to P64.5 billion.

Shares in ALI dropped 10 centavos or 0.23% to P43.40 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. —