Daily Tribune (Philippines)

Land dispute ruling favors Ilocos Sur town

The Court gave weight to the findings of the RTC and the CA which are supported by the evidence on record

- BY ALVIN MURCIA

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Municipali­ty of Sugpon in Ilocos Sur after it has dismissed for lack of merit the petition of the Municipali­ty of Bakun in Benguet over the disputed 1,117.20 hectares of land located within their boundaries.

The decision — penned by Justice Mario Lopez — said that the Court’s Third Division denied the Petition for Review on Certiorari of the Municipali­ty of Bakun that assailed the decision dated 1 February, 2018 and the Resolution dated 6 July 2018 of the Court of Appeals, which in turn affirmed in toto the Resolution­s dated 28 April 2015 and 27 July 2015 of the Regional Trial Court of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, Branch 25.

The RTC set aside Joint Resolution 1, Series of 2014, dated 12 May 2014 of the Sanggunian­g Panlalawig­an of Ilocos Sur and Benguet (Sanggunian­g Panlalawig­an) and adjudicate­d the disputed 1,117.20 hectares of land to the Municipali­ty of Sugpon.

The Court gave weight to the findings of the RTC and the CA which are supported by the evidence on record as it noted that Sugpon presented the Administra­tive Map of Benguet showing that the disputed area was beyond the territoria­l area of Benguet and was, in fact, inside the territoria­l jurisdicti­on of Sugpon.

This was corroborat­ed by other documentar­y evidence, such as Land Classifica­tion Map Nos. 3441 and 1298, the Topographi­c and Administra­tive Map of Ilocos Sur, and a certificat­ion from the officer-incharge of the Community Environmen­t and Natural Resources Office of the Department of Environmen­t and Natural Resources, which shows that the disputed areas are within the territory of Sugpon.

A certificat­ion was also issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform stating that the disputed areas are located in Sugpon. Bakun did not present evidence to refute this certificat­ion.

Also, Sugpon submitted tax declaratio­ns showing that the land forms part of its territory, supported by a certificat­ion and a Master List of Tax Declaratio­n from the Municipal Assessor of Sugpon.

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