Republic of the Philippines

MUNICIPAL TRIAL CIRCUIT

1st Judicial Region
Branch 6
Baguio City

JOAN FELIPE, LIZA LAEYAN, MARY D.

CAPUYAN, and JOAN UYAMMI,
Plaintiffs,

- versus - Civil Case No. 8192-R

For: CANCELLATION OF TITLE
WITH A PRAYER FOR
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING
ORDER AND WRIT OF
PRELIMINARY MANDATORY
INJUNCTION AND DAMAGES

HEIRS OF REBECCA MATABA,

THE OFFICE OF THE
REGISTRY OF DEEDS OF
BAGUIO CITY AS
REPRESENTED BY THE
REGISTRY OF DEEDS, and the
NATIONAL COMMISSION ON
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES,
Defendants.

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PLAINTIFF’S PRE-TRIAL BRIEF

PLAINTIFFS, through counsel and unto this Honorable

Court respectfully submits this Pre-Trial Brief compliance with
the trial court’s order received on October 20, 2018.
 I.
POSSIBILITY OF AMICABLE SETTLEMENT OR
ALTERNATIVE MODES OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Plaintiffs are not willing to consider any amicable

settlement or undergo alternative modes of dispute
resolution with respect to the primary prayers of this
complaint.

II.
ADMISSIONS TO THE STIPULATION OF FACTS

Plaintiffs admits to the following facts regarding to the

parties to the case as undisputed:
1. That complainants are all of legal ages, Filipino citizens,
all are married, Joan Filepe and LIza Laeyan are
residence of Purok Suyoc, Loakan, Baguio City,
Philippines Mary D. Capuyan resides at No. 002b
Kalapati St., of the same;
2. Private defendants are of legal ages, Filipino citizens
and residents of Loakan, Baguio City, Philippines;
3. That complainants are currently with possession over
the subject lots.

Plaintiffs admits the following facts as undisputed

and herein presented:

1. That as found in Paragraph 5 of the Defendant's

Answer and Paragraph 12 and 13 of the Complaint;
that there was posting and publication of the sale of
the lands in the Townsites Sales Applications, but not
as to whether there was notice as to the description
and improvements as to land, location of the
 property, time, date and place of bidding.
2. That in Paragraph 21 of the Complaint; complainants
Laeyan, Felipe and Damaguen have tacked possesion
of the former possessors or original applicants and
have introduced substantial improvements thereon.
3. That as found Paragraph 22 of the Complaint and
paragraph 7 of the Answer; Plaintiffs have been
paying real property taxes as evidenced by tax
delcarations, but not as to the existence of an
"internal agreement" for the plaintiffs to be
reimbursed of the same by the defendant.
4. That under Paragraph 28 of the complaint: Sometime
on June 2011, the complainants received a notice to
vacate their lots covered by the said Townsite Sales
Applications. It was also then that they learned that
their lots were included in the Certificate of Land Title
issued in the name of Tagle Soley embracing Twenty
Five (25) hectares more or less of land situated at
Loakan and Kias, Baguio City as their ancestral land
claim;
5. That as found in Paragraph 14 of the Answer: that
Defendants submitted an Approved Survey Plan of
their Predecessor in Interest Comising Tugley with an
area of Eighty Five Thousand and Fifty Eight Square
Meters (85,058 Sq.m.) more or less.
6. That as found in Paragraph 17 of the Answer and
Paragraph 32 of the Complaint, there is a record with
the NCIP that Komising Tugley the father of Rebecca
Mataba, executed a Supplementary Deed of Absolute
Sale, but not admitted is the allegation of vitiated
consent to the said sales;
7. That as admitted in Paragraph 19 of the Answer and
Paragraph 34 of the Complaint, there existed
inconsistenies with the areas published in 2007 and
 in 2009 but not admitted is that these were the result
of mere inadvertence on the part of the defendents.
8. That as found in Paragraph 20 of the Answer and
Paragraph 35 of the Complaint, that the Certificate of
Ancestral Land Title with No. CAR-BAG-0409-00216
basis of OCT No. 0-CALT-87 was issued by the NCIP
on April 17, 2009 and that on January 21, 2010,
Original Certificate of Title with No. CALT-87 was
entered at the Register of Deeds of Baguio City.
9. That as admitted in Paragraph 21 of the Answer and
paragraph 36 of the Complaint, the title has been
entered in the Register of Deeds of Baguio City on
January 21 2018. After four days or on January 25,
2018, the OCT CALT-87 was cancelled and days or on
January 25, 2018 by virtue of a Partition Agreement
with the same date and registered in the Notarial
Register of Atty. Nestor L. Baban. In the said Partition
Agreement, Lots 1, 5 and 6 were transferred to
Rebecca Mataba;
10. That as admitted in Paragraph 22 of the Answer, Lot
1 with Certificate of Title No. 018-2010000250 issued
to Rebecca Mataba is where the lots of the
complainants were located;
11. That as found in Paragraph 42 of the Complaint and
Paragraph 27 of the Answer, that plaintiffs filed a
complaint in the National Commission on Indigenous
Peoples and was docketed as NCIP OJ Case No. 001-
2014. However, due to jurisdictional issues, it was
withdrawn which was duly granted by the NCIP En
Banc and in Paragraph 28 of the Answer and
Paragraph 43 of the Complaint, the houses of the
complainants have been continuously bombarded by
demolition orders from the City Buildings and
Architecture Office (CBAO). This prompted the
 complainants to file an action for Injunction and was
docketed as Civil Case No. 8445-R. This was
dismissed on the ground that there was a pending
similar case in the NCIP or was dismissed due to
Forum Shipping. dismissed the case without
prejudice in re-filing the same;
12. That as found
13. That as admitted in Paragraph 29 of the Answer and
paragraph 44 of the Complaint, plaintiffs have been
in posession of their respecitve lots since the
nineties. They applied for the said lots through
Townsite Application and through bidding which is
pending before the DENR
14. That as admitted in Paragraph 32 of the Answer and
Paragraph 47 of the Complaint, that multiple
demolition orders have been issued against the
Plaintiffs. And for this time, another Demolition order
was issued by the City Mayor to be implemented on
July 24-25, 2018;
15. That as admitted in Paragraph 35 of the Answer and
paragraph 50 of the Complaint, both parties admit to
the jurisdictional infirmity of DO No. 10, Series of
2014;

III.
ISSUES TO BE TRIED AND RESOLVED

The Plaintiffs proposes the following factual and legal

issues to be tried and resolved by this Honorable Court:

· Whether the defendant’s claim over the subject lots

through an Ancestral Land Claim will prevail over the
Plaintiffs possession over the lots through a Townsite
Sales Applications in which case the Plaintiffs were
 the highest bidders.
· Whether it was proper for the National Council of
Indigenous Peoples to award the Ancestral Land
Claim to the Defendants.

· Whether the provisions of RA No. 8371 or the

Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 can be used in
the instant case for the subject lots in Baguio City
since Sec. 78 of the IPRA provides

"SEC. 78. Special Provision. - The City of Baguio shall

remain to be governed by its Charter and all lands
proclaimed as part of its town site reservation shall remain
as such until otherwise reclassified by appropriate
legislation: Provided, That prior land rights and titles
recognized and/or acquired through any judicial,
administrative or other processes before the

effectivity of this Act shall remain valid: Provided, further,

That this provision shall not apply
to any territory which becomes part of the City of Baguio
after the effectivity of this Act. "

4. Whether the plaintiffs have been in possession over the

lots through mere tolerance due to the defendants
ancestral claim.
5. Whether Komising Tugley validly sold the whole of Lot
49 D and a portion of Lot 48-B, with an are of Twenty
Four Thousand Three Hundred Thirty (24,330) Square
Meters to different vendees and that the same was not
due to Komising's allged Alzheimer's Disease.
6. Whether Defendant Rebecca Mataba validly registered
the Certificate of Ancestral Land Title with No. CAR-BAG-
0409-00216 basis of OCT No 0-87 with the Register of
 Deeds.
7. Whether the Demolition Orders issued were proper as
found in the National Building Code of the Philippines.
8. Whether the Certificate of Ancestral Title held by the
defendants and issued by the Registrar of Deeds should
be cancelled.
IV.
TESTIMONIES AND DOCUMENTS TO BE PRESENTED

Plaintiff will present the following Documentary

Evidence:

9. Certifications by the DENR Office of the A.O. Clearing

Committee over the subject lots being available for
Townsite Sale Applications(Annex “A”, "A-1", "A-
3", "A-4", "A-5" and "A-6");
10. Resolution No. 2004-1 Approving the
Recommendation of the A.O. 504 Regional
Secretariat to Issue Clearance to the Townsite Sales
Applications deliberated on its 54th Regular Meeting
Held on March 19, 2004(Annex “B”);
11. Certifications signed by the OIC CENR Officer
Edgardo Flor dated February of 2007(Annex “C”,
"C-1" "C-2");
12. Memorandum by the Appraisal Committee which sets
the value of the properties subject to bidding(Annex
“D” "D-1", "D-2", "D-3");
13. Affidavit of Postings showing posting and publication
of the sale of the lands applied for (Annex “E”, "E-
1" "E-2" "E-3" "E-4");
14. Evidence that show there was posting and
publication of Bid and Acceptance of Conditions have
been complied with (Annex “F” "F-1" "F-2" "F-3"
"F-4" "F-5" "F-6" "F-7");
15. Written Waiver of Rights by Alfredo Damaguen in
favor to Complainant Capuyan (Annex “G”);
16. Written Waiver of Rights by Tomas Ariola to
complainant Capuyan (Annex "G-1")
17. Written Waiver of Rights of Gat-e Caweng to
complainant Joan Uyammi and the Sales Application
of Gat-e Caweng (Annex “G-2”, "G-3");
18. Receipts evidencing that Complainants paid for the
Sale of Public Land, occupational fees and Survey
Fees(Annex “H” "H-1" "H-2" "H-3" "H-4" "H-5");
19. Tax declarations of the complainants evidencing they
have been paying the real taxes(Annex “I” "I-1" "I-
2" "I-3" "I-4");
20. Memorandum dated June 19, 2007 showing payment
Orders of Award of the four (4) Townsite Sales
Applications(Annex “J”);
21. Findings of the Undersecretary for Lands and
Attached Agencies, Atty. Jose N. Ferrer Jr.(Annex
“K”).
22. Letter by Complainant Capuyan seeking the
exclusion of her lot from the land awarded by the
NCIP, which was endorsed to Glady's Lasdacan, City
Officer, NCIP-Baguio City which was now never acted
upon(Annex “L”).
23. Certification from the DENR showing that Rebecca
Mataba never filed an application for the Ancestral
Land they claim (Annex “M”).
24. Certification of non-existing survey provided by the
DENR showing that Rebecca Tagle Mataba Et. al
never submitted a survey play for the twenty five
hectares(Annex “N") and the reduced Xerox Plan
(Annex "O").
25. Certification of AO 54 showing that the there was
reduction in the ancestral land being claimed(Annex
 “P” "P-1").
26. Turn-over of the Ancestral Land Claims Applications
Folders Enclosing the records regarding the Inventory
of the Ancestral Land Claim Application for the CIty of
Baguio(Annex “Q”).
27. Title and the survey submitted by a certain Engr.
Bumatnog(Annex “R” "R-1" "R-2" "R-3" "R-4" "R-
5" "R-6").
28. Certification made by the DENR which shows that
the lot was divided to the heirs of Komising Tugley,
namely Ferry Okubo, Rebecca Tagle, Isabel Pistola
and Zacarias Tagle and that Deed of Sale of Tugley's
lot(Annex “S”).
29. Certification made by Guillermo S. Fianza stating the
fact that the Heirs of Tugley applied with an
application No. BG-J-113(Annex “T”); and records
forwarded by the DENR to NCIP BG-J-113 is in the
name of Bugnay Tuato (Annex "T-1")
30. Affidavit of publication and publication in the Zig Zag
Weekly Newspaper, Nordis Newspaper (Annex “U”
"U-1" "U-2").
31. Resolution No. 066-2009-A1 series of 2009 and the
OCT O-CALT-87(Annex “V” "V-1").
32. Doc No. 19s in the Notorail Registry which shows that
it is an Affidavit of Adverse Claim(Annex “W").
33. Complaints filed with the NCIP docked as NCIP OJ
Case No. 001-2014 which was subsequently
dismissed without prejudice(Annex “X” and "Y"
respecitively).
34. Complaint showing an action for Injunction docketed
as Civil Case No. 8445-R which was later Dismissed
due to Forum Shopping(Annex “Z” and "Z-1" the
Dismissal order).
Plaintiff will present the following Testimentary Evidence
and abstract thereof:

35. blah blah blah

will testify about blah blah blah

V.
AVAILABILITY FOR TRIAL

The Plaintiffs respectfully informs this Honorable Court

of their willingness to proceed to an actual trial of the case
whenever necessary at the convenient time to the parties
and the calendar of this tribunal.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully

prayed unto this Honorable Court that the foregoing Pre-Trial
Brief be duly noted.

Done this 23th day of October 2018.

VI.
RESERVATION

Plaintiffs respectfully reserves the right to present other

witnesses, documents or evidence in addition to, or in
subsitution of, those mentioned above should a need thereof
arises; propose other issues as the exigencies of trial may
demand; cite and invoke other laws and jurispruduence that
may be warranted.

VII.
APPLICABLE LAWS AND JURISPRUDENCE IN SUPPORT
OF PLAINTIFF'S CLAIMS
36. blah blah blah case this helps me blah blah blah
37. blah blah sc decisions says im right and defendant is
doodoo

ATTY blah blah blah

PTR whatever
Roll number shitsssss
im tiredddd