By Mortz C. Ortigoza
LINGAYEN – With the audacity of the
Department of Education not to allow the local government units in the country to
lease the part of the lot owned by the latter, the mayor here uses usufruct to
protect her town interest.
Mayor Josefina Castaneda said that
before the DepEd can use the municipal land, her office requested the
executives of the education department to have a usufruct contract with this
Capital Town in Pangasinan.
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| MAYORS - Lingayen Mayor Josefina "Iday" Castaneda (left) and Binmaley Mayor Simplicio Rosario. Both mayors of Pangasinan have different experiences with the Department of Education in relation to their towns' lot where the DepEd used. |
According to the Civil Code of the
Philippines, the contract gives a right to enjoy the property of another
with the obligation of preserving its form and substance, unless the title
constituting it or the law otherwise provides.
“We required them first to sign a usufruct before we allow them to
use our land,” Castaneda said.
The law cited that the owner of the
property can end the usufruct by grounds like prescription, termination of the
right of the person constituting the usufruct.
The statement of the mayor happened
after the DepEd through Region - 1 Director Ruby Torio rejected the request of
Binmaley Mayor Simplicio Rosario to allow
him to use 2, 396 square meters (sqm)
for the construction of a mall Primark Group of Companies-LDC in the 8, 358.70
sq.m presently occupied by the Binmaley Central School.
The DepEd even rejected the attractive
offer of Primark and the LGU of Binmaley for 35 classrooms, the
construction of a flood control system, installation of security cameras,
railings around the school, and donation yearly of P120,000 as scholarship grant to the poor but
deserving students as the mall’s thrust for corporate social
responsibility.
Lawyer Howard Yano Chan, Attorney IV of
the DepEd, even threatened Mayor Rosario that if the latter persists in allowing
Primark to occupy the area the Department would be constrained to apply for a
special patent so it could totally owned the area.
“Corollary, the Department may also apply for Special Patent considering that the school has been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious occupation of said school site since 1828,” Chan said.
“Corollary, the Department may also apply for Special Patent considering that the school has been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious occupation of said school site since 1828,” Chan said.
The lawyer cited that one of the
disadvantages in capitulating to the demand of Rosario and Primark will be the
constriction of spaces among the Special Education (SPED) pupils and their
playground.
Chan added that a congested school site
is certainly not conducive to the learners and will lessen the school’s
opportunity for expansion. It cited that future constructions might require
high rise buildings which would make it difficult for small school children and
most especially for the SPED learners
The lawyer said their acquiescence with
Rosario’s demand would become a domino effect to other towns and cities in the
country that have similar situation with the town.
According to a high official of the Registry
of Deeds, a lawyer who asked anonymity, the ground of open, continuous,
exclusive, and notorious occupation of the school site since 1828 as cited by
Chan to have special patent for that land in Binmaley can hold water.
“What the the DepEd will do is to apply it at the City Environment
and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and the DENR (Department of
Environment & Natural Resources) offices in the region and the province
that will process it”.
The lawyer of the RD said that his
office will just accept it for the transfer of the certificate of title from
Binmaley to the DepEd if the DENR approved the application of the latter.
But he cited that it would be a tedious
long court battle that could reach the Supreme Court if Mayor Rosario, who said
the town paid regularly for the taxes of the land, contests the intention to
own by the DepEd.
The Tax Declaration, according to
Rosario, is under the name of his municipality and it covers a total land area
of 16,971 sq m. Its occupants are Binmaley Central School (BSC), Magic
Supermart, a barangay hall, and the Binmaley Astrodome.
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