PPA accused of appropriating land
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:09:22 +0000
The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is threatening to file a case against the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) over the latter’s appropriation of a North Harbor property.
In a statement on Wednesday, the state-owned pension fund claimed the PPA had allocated the land for use as a squatter resettlement site without its knowledge and consent.
It noted that the PPA executed a memorandum of understanding with the National Housing Authority (NHA), the City of Manila, International Container Terminal Services Inc. and Manila North Harbor Port Inc. covering a 5-hectare lot without indicating nor disclosing that the GSIS owned about 1.2 hectares.
“GSIS supports the government’s social housing program but it has to be done within the purview of the law. The property is registered under the name of the pension fund. PPA cannot commit a property that it does not own,” GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint Aranas said.
In a letter to PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago, Aranas demanded that agency rescind, modify or revise the agreement to exclude the land owned by the pension fund.
If not rectified, the GSIS said it would be constrained to file the appropriate legal action to protect the interest of pension fund and its members.
It noted that Santiago questioned the validity of the GSIS title but Aranas replied that the “PPA’s argument questioning the validity of GSIS’s original certificate of title is a collateral attack not allowed by law.”
PPA officials were not immediately available for comment.
Aranas claimed that the GSIS, from the very start, was made to understand that its property would not be included in the land committed by PPA for the resettlement of informal settlers along Isla Puting Bato and surrounding areas.
He added that it had long been established that the 5-hectare land partly covered GSIS property.
Furthermore, the GSIS said the property had been discussed repeatedly during interagency committee meetings where where the PPA, GSIS, the NHA and other government agencies sit as members
“In fact, in one of said meetings, NHA confirmed the overlapping of the properties based on its ocular inspection,” it claimed.
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