Hands off Tokyo assets

The eminent Vice President Salvador “Doy” Laurel, who many consider as the best president the nation never had, was emphatic about his opposition to the sale of the Philippine properties in Japan, which were acquired as reparation for the Second World War.

In July 1987, President Cory Aquino issued an executive order that paved the way for the sale of the priceless assets supposedly to raise funds for the agrarian reform program.

Laurel swiftly filed a petition for prohibition with the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the sale of the Roppongi property. He used his own money to pay the considerable filing fee and had the sale halted a day before the auction sale.

There are again suggestions from those with vested interest to sell the properties after President Rodrigo Duterte said the government plans to sell “Roxas Boulevard” in reference to the need to raise money for the battle against the coronavirus disease, which is turning out to be a protracted war.

Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr. suspected that those who immediately brought up the sale of the Japan properties when the President cited the need to raise money were after the huge possible kickbacks from the transaction.

The Philippine property on Roppongi Street in the district of Minato-ku in Tokyo, Japan consists of 3,179-square meters of land, which sits on one of the prime districts in the capital city.

In 1989, on the pretext of raising funds to finance the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), Cory considered selling the Japan properties through public bidding, starting with the Roppongi lot.

The property was twice set for bidding, but for various reasons the sale did not push through. The price then was set at a minimum of P6 billion but up to 70 percent of the purchase price will go to the payment of taxes to the Japanese government.

At the third auction, Laurel, who learned about the deal when he visited Tokyo a month before, forthwith petitioned the SC to issue an order prohibiting Malacañang and its representative from selling the Roppongi asset without an act of Congress authorizing such disposition.

He also asked the government to explain why Filipinos were excluded from the auction.

In his petition for prohibition, Vice President Laurel argued that: the Roppongi lot is property of public dominion, consequently, it is outside the commerce of man and, therefore, cannot be alienated; and that President Aquino, her officers and agents have no authority and jurisdiction to sell the lot.

Laurel also described the properties as “priceless,” which, should be enjoyed not by the present generation of Filipinos alone or principally by the Aquino administration.

“The Roppongi property is not just like any piece of property. It was given to the Filipino people in reparation for the lives and blood of Filipinos who died and suffered during the Japanese military occupation, for the suffering widows and orphans who lost their loved ones and kindred, for the homes and other properties lost by countless Filipinos during the war,” according to Laurel.

He added that the Tokyo properties are monuments to the bravery and sacrifice of the Filipino people in the face of an invader; like the monuments of Rizal, Quezon, and other Filipino heroes.

His argument was that it is criminal to expect economic or financial benefits from these markers of heroism.

“Who would think of selling these monuments? Filipino and national dignity dictate that we keep our properties in Japan as memorials to the countless Filipinos who died and suffered. Even if we should become paupers, we should not think of selling them. For it would be as if we had sold the lives and blood and tears of our countrymen,” Laurel noted.

The SC then sustained the position of Laurel and ruled against the validity of the sale. “As property of the public domain,” the SC said, “the Roppongi lot is outside the commerce of man. It cannot be alienated. The fact that the Roppongi site has not been used for a long time for actual embassy service does not automatically convert it to patrimonial property...”

As a rebuff to Cory Aquino regarding the proper discharge of her powers, former Justice Hugo E. Gutierrez, said it was not for the president to convey valuable real property of the government on his or her own sole will.

“Any such conveyance must be authorized and approved by a law enacted by Congress. It requires executive and legislative concurrence,” he said in an opinion on the then controversial issue.

Laurel was determined to stop the sale and convinced the tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order a day before the third auction sale.

The cost of the intervention was more than the expensive filing fee, since it worsened the then already shaky relations between Doy and Cory.

When the SC issued its decision, the bidding had been scheduled and interested groups with their lawyers and advisers and other parties were all present at the Philippine Embassy.

The Commission on Audit even sent an official to witness the entire proceedings. That was when the SC issued a temporary restraining order.

According to those who witnessed the drama that transpired after the SC issued the ruling, there was a mad scramble to find a fax machine and to get the fax number of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo to stop the auction.

Laurel also called the Philippine Ambassador to Japan and told him not to proceed with the bidding.

As Laurel had said, the properties are monuments to the bravery and heroism of Filipinos, while the SC ruled it is not part of the regular assets that the government has the right to sell.

Those with criminal intent should lay off the properties bought with the blood of Filipinos who went through the ordeal of a fearful war.

“As Laurel had said, the properties are monuments to the bravery and heroism of Filipinos.

“Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin suspected that those who immediately brought up the sale of the Japan properties… were after the huge possible kickbacks from the transaction.