THE city government of Makati remains confident that the Supreme Court will decide in its favor in connection with its dispute with Taguig City over which of them owns the upmarket Fort Bonifacio district.
“We know that based on the merits, the City of Makati will prevail and justice will be rendered,” said Michael Arthur Camina, Makati’s legal officer and spokesman of Mayor Abigail Binay.
He made the statement in reaction to the high court’s recent decision finding Makati guilty of direct contempt over the case.
As a result, the high court’s Second Division fined the three lawyers that represented Makati City in the case P2,000 each.
“We have received reports of a decision by the Supreme Court on technical matters related to the disputed areas in Fort Bonifacio,” Camina said.
“We have not yet received a copy of the said decision, but we will immediately study the city’s options upon our receipt.”
Camina said the city government had always been open and transparent in its legal actions to recover what he said was part of Makati’s territory.
“Based on the merits of the case, Makati’s claim has been upheld by the Court of Appeals and the ruling has been appealed by the city of Taguig,” Camina said.
“The courts must rule on this case based on facts and the law and not on technicalities. It is only after a ruling on the merits can the issue be resolved in a manner that is acceptable.”
Camina said the residents of the disputed area had been waiting for a long time because its development was being derailed by the pending issues and uncertainties.
“The city of Makati is confident in its rightful claim without any resort to technicalities,” he said.
Apart from finding Makati guilty of contempt, the Court also granted the petition of the Taguig local government, which has been seeking a modification of the 2013 rulings of the Court of Appeals. Those rulings transferred the jurisdiction over the disputed residential and business district”•including the Bonifacio Global City”•from Taguig to Makati.
The high court sided with Taguig after it found that the Makati government violated the rule against forum shopping when it simultaneously pursued legal remedies before the Pasig City regional trial court and the appellate court seeking the same relief.
The records showed that when the Pasig RTC ruled in favor of Taguig in the dispute, Makati filed a motion for reconsideration and at the same time brought the matter before the appellate court through a petition for annulment of judgment, with both seeking a reversal of the RTC ruling.
The high court said Makati’s actions not only “vexed courts and an adverse litigant, but actually gave rise to conflicting decisions not only between different courts but even within the Court of Appeals itself.”
In its assailed July 2013 ruling, the appellate court’s sixth division held that Fort Bonifacio belongs to Makati City.
It declared as constitutional Presidential Proclamation 2475 issued by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and Proclamation 518 issued by the late former President Corazon Aquino in 1990. Both declared Fort Bonifacio as being under the jurisdiction of Makati City.
The appellate court also reversed a July 2008 ruling of the Pasig RTC that awarded to Taguig City territorial jurisdiction over a 729-hectare property covering the seven military villages and inner Fort villages, including the high-end Bonifacio Global City.