The Court of Appeals has dismissed the petition questioning the ownership of developer Megaworld Corp. on the property in Binondo, Manila where Lucky Chinatown Mall and The City Place condominium stand.
In a seven-page decision promulgated last Sept. 28, the CA’s Second Division denied the petition filed by local firm Nesco International Development Corp. assailing the validity of the land title of Megaworld covering the 2.5-hectare land.
The appellate court instead affirmed the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission last April, which dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the complaint filed by Nesco in 2012 that accused Megaworld of having fake titles on the property.
The CA cited as basis previous rulings of the Supreme Court on similar cases, which held that the SEC has no jurisdiction in determining the validity of certificates of title.
“In holding that the SEC’s judgment was void, the Supreme Court noted that proper adjudication of the controversy requires, at the very least, a consideration of the indefeasibility of a Torrens title and propriety of a collateral attack on a certificate of title, among others. Thus, it concluded that the SEC is not the appropriate forum to delve into these civil law concepts,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla.
“Applying these principles in the present case, we resolve that the SEC was correct in ruling that although the reliefs prayed for by petitioner do not directly seek the nullification of the questioned titles, the resolution of this issue would still involve an inquiry into the validity or genuineness of said titles—a matter which is civil in nature and is therefore within the exclusive jurisdiction of regular courts,” the CA said.
The CA only settled the issue on jurisdiction of the SEC in resolving the case, and no longer touched on other issues raised in the petition of Nesco—including allegations that Megaworld executives were involved in “unsound business practices” and should be investigated and prosecuted.
Associate Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Franchito Diamante concurred with the ruling.
Nesco was the owner of the two-story commercial building that was demolished by the city government from the property bought by Megaworld.
In the dismissed complaint, it asked SEC to cancel or revoke Megaworld’s certificate of incorporation, file civil and criminal cases against its officers and directors and delist the firm in the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The SEC dismissed the complaint in a decision dated April 13, 2018.
Nesco had also sought the revocation of Megaworld’s certificate of registration and license to sell units in the The City Place condominium before the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.
Records showed that Megaworld signed a Memorandum of Agreement in April 2006 with the City Government of Manila, after a successful public bidding process for a build-and-transfer arrangement for the construction of public school buildings with residential quarters for the faculty, among others.
The developer said Nesco has no legal basis to ask for a revocation of the permits for The City Place since it is not a buyer of any unit within the aforementioned property.