THE MAGNIFICENT SOLUTION
By EJ & Doris J. Ekker--May 9, 2003
[Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of articles
based upon court documents revealing the hidden history of the
Philippines. Every nation has, it
seems, at least two versions of its history: what really happened, being
obscured by the "doctored" version of what happened so that nearly
all of the people have little access to the truth and most of whom will blindly
defend the lie to their death.]
As we study the court documents related to the ownership of
land in the Philippines, we are struck by the wisdom of Judge Enrique A. Agana
who took responsibility for and wrote the ORDERS for the DECISION WITH
COMPROMISE AGREEMENT of 1972, some eight years after the litigation was
terminated by the AGREEMENT reached in 1964.
We believe that, had his ORDERS been followed by both parties, the
government and the Tallanos, the Philippine Islands may well have become the
"Pearl of the Pacific" and A "world financial center" if
not THE "world financial center".
In all of the world's occupations and professions, there is
no other that is so dedicated to arriving at TRUTH as a good Judge. At trial there are always at least two
factions that are trying to lead the Judge, if not to mislead and fool him, and
so his task is one of endless searching for TRUTH. True, there are biased, and even corrupted, Judges, but as you
will soon find for yourself, Judge Enrique A. Agana was not among them.
At this time, 2003, Peace and Order are of paramount concern
to Filipinos. Street crime is so
rampant that most kidnappings, murders, car thefts, robberies, muggings and
bank heists do not make the news.
Raids, ambushes, and bombings, (not to mention the rural terror
resulting from the constant "collection of revolutionary taxes") by
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People's Army are
accorded front-page coverage in the hope and expectation of military support
from the United States. Had Judge
Agana's ORDERS been followed, virtually all of those problems would have long
ago dissolved.
President Ferdinand E. Marcos hired a team of experts to
come from Europe and plan the "infrastructure" of the Philippines,
including a high-speed rail system from the northern tip to the southern tip of
the main islands. We have personally
met the man who contracted to print 50 numbered copies of the large book that
was compiled after two years. He was
not allowed to keep a copy or the plates and it is said that Corazone Aquino,
the American-selected President to replace the shanghaied Marcos, placed such a
bounty on the books and/or their owners that they all disappeared. We have not been able to locate one or
anyone that will admit to knowing where we might see one.
Perhaps the publication of this information will bring at
least one out of hiding.
Just monetizing the 400,000 metric tons of gold held in the
vaults of the Central Bank would elevate the gold-based money supply in the
Philippines to more than twice as much per person as the money supply in the
US, and US money is not backed by gold.
If that much money, some 4 trillion dollars, were to be spent cleaning
and fixing up the Philippines, think of what a paradise it would be.
In short, Judge Agana, in his DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT and his two "Clarificatory Orders" of 1974 and 1976,
required that the Tallanos establish the "DON ESTEBAN BENITEZ TALLANO
& DON GREGORIO MADRIGAL ACOP FOUNDATION, INC." to hold and administer
the assets of the Estate. In addition
to the land held under ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE (OCT) No. T 01-4
(described in the April 9, 2003 issue of CONTACT), those assets include
a payment of 2 billion pesos that should have been made by the government to
Tallanos in 1968 for the land used by government buildings and land given to
farmers under the program termed Agrarian Reform.
The government, in a move to delay the payment until 1978,
proposed that its bank, Land Bank of the Philippines, issue five bonds of
P400,000,000 each, due and payable in 1978.
The interest rate of 7% per year would be raised to 10% as a penalty if
the Bonds were not redeemed on time.
After compounding at 7% for 10 years and 10% for nearly 25 years, on May
15, 2003 the government owes the Foundation more than 41 billion pesos.
In 1995 Judge Sofronio G. Sayo imposed additional fines and
penalties on the government for its "dilatory tactics" which now
amount to nearly 10 billion pesos. The
royalties due for the 400,000 metric tons of gold held in the Central Bank
(which we read to mean the National Treasury) amount to more than 10 trillion
pesos, in the aggregate more than 200 billion US dollars.
When the government authorizes the use of the DEEDS OF ASSIGNMENT FOR CONSIDERATION
of GLOBAL ALLIANCE INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION as banking RESERVES, the Philippines
can join with GLOBAL in a Joint Venture
Partnership to begin to buy the gold from the Foundation. As the National Treasury issues pesos to the
Foundation, title to portions of the gold pass to the National Treasury,
increasing its RESERVES, but this increase is in GOLD, and soon it will have
enough upon which to proclaim its currency "gold-based". Gold-based currency is acceptable as
"foreign exchange" anywhere in the world (and will soon become the currency
of preference).
More than fifty years have passed since
the Philippines gained its Independence and during all of that time the
government has paid so little to the Royal Family that it has had no money with
which to pay its real estate and property taxes. Perhaps its failure to set up the Foundation and organize itself
to properly administer its large assets served as the government's excuse for
not living up to its part of the AGREEMENT.
On the other hand, neither the Marcos Administration nor any subsequent
Administration has made any overture to the Court Appointed Administrator,
Prince Julian Morden Tallano, to cooperate in the solution of the impasse.
When the government pays its debt to
the Foundation the Foundation can pay its accumulated billions of pesos of
taxes due, which will flow to the municipalities and barangays, giving them the
money needed to build, repair, and maintain their roads, streets, water and
waste systems, schools and hospitals and civic facilities. Doing so will put to productive work every
able-bodied man and woman in the nation.
It is the intent and commitment of the Global Alliance
Investment Association to serve as the catalyst to bring together the
government and the Foundation into a tripartite effort to release the wealth of
the nation for the use and benefit of God's PEOPLE. If this sounds "too simple" or "too good to be
true", just remember that God's solution to problems and His answer to
prayers most often are simple and present in a way you might least expect.
What follows will be extracts from the 1972 DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT offered as confirmation of our statements above about the wisdom and
integrity of Judge Agana.
[Suggestion: In any
copy going to press, it should be noted that English is the demanded language
of the Court in the Philippines but that in its own due course makes it all but
impossible for clerks and individuals with English as a Second Language to do a
properly correct "English" document.
Be kind as readers and guess how your document would appear in Tagalog
or Taglish as has become the Filipino expression. The intent is well expressed and very clearly put forth.
In copying documents
from original entries in the court records we have made every effort to retain
even the inadvertent commas, missing letters, etc., so that all documentation
will match original documents. We take
no editorial liberties in recopy--to the best of our ability.]
[We begin our quoting of the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT on its page three. Our
editorial comments will be bold type in brackets.]
Indeed, in the findings of Justinian, Inst. B.1, tit; Co; 2nd
Inst. 56, justice is the constant and perceptual disposition to render to every
man his due. It is the conformity of
our actions and our will to the law but it should be commutative for which that
virtue whose object is to render to everyone what belongs to him, as nearly as
may be, or that which governs contracts.
Yet, justice needs to be distributive as well, that virtue whose object
it is to distribute rewards and punishments to each one according to his merit,
observing a just proportion by comparing one person or fact with another so
that neither equal persons have unequal things nor unequal person things
equal. Justice, in specific parlance,
is the greatest interest of man on earth.
It is the ligament that holds civilized nations together, for, it
consists simply in letting everyone enjoy the rights that he has acquired by
virtue of the laws. And, this must be
enforced accordingly in the case at bar, otherwise, justice under this regime
is inutile if not dead. Similarly, this
remains precarious to our political, social and economic stability as well and,
in toto, an obstruction to this nation's progress and stability.
[Ed: We remind the reader that this DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT was signed by Judge Agana February 4, 1972, some six years into the
Marcos Administration--the case was ended in 1964 in the Macapagal
Administration.]
In a democratic institution, the right to property is a
fundamental natural, inherent and inalienable right. Clearly, it is never an ex gratia from the legislature, rather ex
dibito from the duly constituted fundamental law of the state, the
Constitution. Indeed, it never owe its
origin to the Constitution which secure it for it existed foremost before
them. In several circumstances, it
characterized judicially as a sacred right, the protection of which is one of
the paramount objectives of the government.
The constitutionally protected right of private property is
not, however, an absolute right and it is subject to justifiable restraints and
mandated regulations instituted by the legislature or ordained by the said
fundamental law. It is subject to the
police power of the state and to constitutional order on social justice, that
land reform or equitable distribution of wealth is very good example when it
has been implemented within the tenet of the constitutional policy of the
government, because, within that rights, the right to property is the right to
acquire, hold, enjoy, possess, manage, insure and improve said property, as
well as the right to devote property to any lawful use.
But it so defeating to live within this allege democratic
nation where the present administration capitalizes said glorious objectives
but actually indirectly disenfranchising the constitutional rights of the
Tagean-Tallano clans from their real properties by distorting the true record
of the Royal clan in the LRC defeating their ownership of the land they gained
out of their hard labor and more than 4 centuries of arm struggles against the
Spanish government and abusive officials of the Republic that only to find out
their ownership right over the said property consisting of 169,912,500 hectares
of plains, mountains, forests and seas evidenced by Land Title OCT No. T-01-4,
Annex A to Annex A-1 to A-19 that had been issued by the Royal Government of
England, through the office of the Royal Audiencia then by the British Governor
to the Philippines Downsone Drake, is lawful within the bound of the Land
Registration Act 496 after the same subject land its ownership had been settled
in a court of proper jurisdiction by the Land Registration Court which was
ended on October 3, 1904, under a Case CLRO 475, which caused the issuance of
Decree 297 and was registered in favor of Rajah Lacan (Tagean) Tallano, who was
married to Princess Rowena Ma. Elizabeth Overbeck Macleod of Austria, and
eventually to their son, Prince Julian Macleod Tallano (Tagean) who was married
to princess Aminah Kiram of the Sultanate of Sulu, after another court battle
in the Cadastral Court in accordance with the law of Cadastral Act 2259 which
was ended on March 14, 1914, had been promulgated in favor of Prince Julian
Macleod Tallano against unlawful claimants, Don Hermogenes Rodriguez and heirs
declaring Court Ruling in a Land Registration Case No 571, is null and void ab
initio because proceedings under said Land Registration Case 571 had failed to
substantiate the jurisdictional requirements and valid jurisprudence, besides,
it was proven that the ownership rights of Don Hermogenes Rodriguez merely
derived from fraudulent documents, the lease agreement from the Tagean-Tallano
clan had been diverted into Certificate of Award from the Spanish government,
yet, it can be precluded as valid ownership Land Title because, long before the
Spanish government arrived here in the Philippines, the Island had and has been
in actual possession of the Royal family, thru their predecessor in interest,
King Luisong Tagean. Besides, finally
OCT No. 01-4 had been issued to the Tagean-Tallano clan not to the Rodriguez
due to a conflicting information and evidences they presented using the reward
certificate issued by the Spanish government.
The alleged Court Decision dated November 6, 1911 by the Court of First
Instance of Manila is a hoax judgment because it was then the Land Registration
Court that has exclusive jurisdiction over the Lands Registration Case and not
the CFI, and that the plan the Rodriguez heirs had been using could be found in
Roxas and Iloilo City, Annex B and C) not in Manila, whatsoever.
Furthermore, on the Sworn Manifestation of LRC Administrator
Antonio Noblejas, he specifically explained that the title-form used in the
issuance of allege OCT 369 is from the Land Registration Form No. 1, yet, in
1907, the year the alleged Land Title is dated, the so called GLRO was not yet
born for use, it construed the said GLRO form No. 1 was not in existence yet.
Again, the OCT 369 in the name of Don Hermogenes Rodriguez,
was been issued by late Judge S. del Rosario as CFI Judge of Rizal patently
fabricated from the fraudulent OCT issued in the name of Francisco Manajan y
Torrente also issued by Judge S. del Rosario as a CLR Judge. And that the alleged CLR Case No. 386,
Manila, divulged that the decree issued was Decree No. 160 not Decree 297,
because Decree 160 was issued on March 19, 1904 and not March 8, 1907, that
under the said CLR Case No. 386, Decree 160 was OCT No. 140 not OCT 369 was
issued in the Registry of Deeds in Manila, it covers only one (1) parcel of
land located in Tondo, Manila with an area of 354.03 sq. m.
On the part of OCT No. 01-4, with Decree 297, CLR Case No.
475, the same were issued in the name of Prince Lacan Acuna Tagean Tallano on
October 3 1904 after compliance of the LRA 496 requirements embracing the whole
archipelago but was fraudulently deleted and distorted over the land in Cavite
alone instead of the whole Island as could be found in Record Book of Decree,
Book 1 and was distorted in the name of Manuel Ruiz y Javier instead lawfully
to Prince Julian Macleod Tallano. That
the allege Plan No. 11-4810, covering 3 parcels of land in the municipality of
Sagay, Negros Occidental not in San Dionisio and Ibayo, Paranague where Nicolas
Biones and Laureana Vargas were applicants, while the Plan II-4813 was merely
inserted as part of the Plan in CLR Case 9002, and said parcel of land consists
of 3,807 square meters situated in Calle Zmart, Municipality of Iloilo and was
surveyed by G. & M. Mendez.
LRC Administrator attested in his Sworn Affidavit and
Manifestation that all II-4810, II-4811, II-4812 and II-4813 found no existing
survey record in the Record Management Division of the Bureau of Lands and
Forestry.
This Court has observed the blueprint pattern of clandestine
land grabbing by the allege-claiming to be land owners which were derived from
the National Government thru its instrumental agencies, the Bureau of Lands and
Forestry, the Land Registration Commission in conspiracy of the officials of
Building Permit Bureau of the Department of Public Work and Highway and by the
local government officials and with participation of some Register of Deeds in
the City and Provinces where the lands are situated. These are where the sacred role of the government must have to be
exercised for the protection of the constitutional rights of its
citizenry. Yet, very clearly, that land
grabbing scheme massively laundered icing by socialized housing programs, urban
and agricultural land reform of the government in connivance with the developers,
sometimes in the pretext of National Government infrastructure program is a
silent confiscation of real properties of the private persons, particularly to
the damage of the Tagean-Tallano family who lawfully own the vast of land here
in Greater Manila Area and suburbs.
By these circumstances where the national government
arrogantly launched its clandestine confiscation of private properties, movable
and immovable, it is hard to admit that there has no violation of Due
Process. Actually, violation of it is
presently in serious offense of the National Government for grand design of its
cohorts depriving the constitutional mandate of Section 1 and Section 2 of
Article III of our 1935 constitution, directly defeating the real substance of
Due Process her, namely:
1. To prevent improper governmental
encroachment against an individual's life, liberty and property
2. To prevent arbitrary exercise of government
powers
3. To prevent unjustified confiscation of
private property.
Our great Senator Diokno eloquently explained the relevant
objects of due process; Quote:
The
requirement must be directly intended to have the same effect against
legislative power, that is, to secure the citizens against arbitrary
deprivation of his constitutional rights, whether relevant to his life, his
liberty, or his property. It is a an
absolute limitation toward arbitrary power and a guarantee against abusive
legislation requiring that the law shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary or
capricious in character and or objective should have a real and substantial
purpose and effect to the object sought to be attained. The supreme intention of the guarantee is
the protection of the individual from the arbitrary implementation and
execution of powers of the government, undisturbed and with genuine established
principles of private rights and distributive justice.
Unquote: Our Great
Senator lent his judicial wisdom relevant to this proceedings, where pressure
and coercive influence from the authority had intended to inflict against the
true essence of justice; particularly, in the case at bar where substantial
evidences of the heir of the late Prince Julian Macleod Tallano backing up
their ownership interest over the subject land and has been meritoriously
adopted from the National Government evidences and position paper could not be
subsided by technical maneuver of the Solicitor General and, obviously, by
mixed influence of the Executive Order, Proclamation and Letter of
Instructions, allowing its cohort developers, specifically Private Development
Corporation of the Philippines who bulldozed the big track of land both the
north and south of Manila for the proposed Expressway, where thousands of mango
trees were uprooted and destroyed, the Pilar Village Corporation who massively
bulldozed portion of Quezon City where the ten thousands of mango trees were
destroyed for the government pretext Housing Projects which said projects of
the Pilar Village Corporation could be magnified almost in Greater Manila area
and that the Malacanang Palace official conspirator, certain Bonificio Regalado
who arrogantly bulldozed big track of land on the east, north and west portion
of Quezon City, where hundred thousands of mango trees were destroyed and that
its cohort Manny Villar and Company Real estate proposed housing projects in
Muntinglupa, Taguig, Paranaque and Las Pinas, where half a million mango trees
were bulldozed and destroyed. Then the
direct cohort and oligarch Real Estate Developers of the Higher Officials of
the Palace, the Ortigas and Company, who raped the original view of San Juan
leaving destroyed thousands of mango trees simply to be replaced by the
proposed shopping center and Executive Village in the said Greenhills,
depriving the interest of the late Don Juan Ejercito and his heirs; that Harry
Stonehill mess who conspired with some Malacanang officials before, who
destroyed half a million of mango trees in San Pedro Laguna only for the elite
Housing Projects and who attempted for the restoration of the war wisely
damaged Manila Bay for self interest against the interest of the land owner,
the Tagean-Tallano family. And the
Malacanang cohorts oligarch Developers in Marikina, who attempted to land grab
some 1,500 hectares of land situated in Parang, Marikina, Rizal own by the
family of Dona Lourdes Tuazon Arroyo who bought from the real owner, Don
Esteban Benitez Tallano, close friend of Ex-President Diosdado Macapagal; and
particularly that Ayala Corporation who arbitrarily developed the Forbes Park
and the Bell Air Village in Makati, are, as aforementioned above, direct denial
of due process, awarding the lands to these developers without the mercy of the
impartial judge.
Mr. Justice Jose P. Laurel must have condemned the
conspirators in the government, if ever he has been living as Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court up to this time.
Because he once said that if accused is not tried by an impartial judge,
the pledge of due process becomes a myth and the trial is reduced to nothing
but a useless formality, an idle ceremony.
Mr. Justice Laurel continued: If a judge had made up his mind to convict
even innocence would not suffice as a defense.
Unquote: Similarly,
the moro-moro court proceedings in this Sala under LRC/Civil Case No. 997-P
against Don Esteban Benitez Tallano and Prince Lacan Acuna Tagean Tallano, the
living heir of the late Prince Julian Macleod Tallano contemplated by some
government officials in Malacanang in conspiracy of these developers who
managed the validation of their fictitious Land Titles particularly this OCT
333 of Bonifacio Regalado its Decree No, 1141 has been found covering land in
Florida Blanca, the OCT 735 of Don Mariano Severino Tuazon, and that OCT 632
own by Eulalio Ragua, that OCT 730 own by Piedad Estate, that OCT 614, OCT 333,
OCT 291, and that OCT 820 own by Patricia Tiongson and by the National
Government, and all OCT its numbers from OCT No. 02 to OCT No. 100,000 had been
declared non-bankable due to their fraudulent characteristics, and null and
void ab initio by my predecessor in this Court on July 14, 1964 by virtue of
the Petition filed by the Republic of the Philippines in favor of its allege
predecessor, late Prince Lacan (Tagean) Tallano under LRC Civil Case No. 997
which was consolidated to LRC/Civil Case No. 3957-P for Separate Judgment Re:
Reconstitution of OCT No. 01-4 in the name of Prince Lacan Tagean Tallano with
Annulment of OCT No. 01 up to OCT No. 100,000 vs. Hermogenes Rodriguez from
which the petitioner, Republic of the Philippines had acquired its interest and
rights over the subject lands under the principles of Public Domain, alleging
in that petition that late Julian Macleod Tallano and Prince Lacan Acuna Tagean
Tallano have no surviving heirs whosoever, so therefore, under the law, said
big track of lands, the Hacienda Filipina evidenced by OCT No. T-01-4 be reverted
to the National Government.
On the above proceedings, the constitutional rights of the
heirs of the true owner had always been deprived, thanks to the
sound-meritorious judicial procedures of our Judiciary then that asserted by
then Solicitor General Felix Makasiar, now, the pillar of our Supreme Court who
sent summons and subpoenas to the Tallano-Tagean heirs in Hawaii and the old
residence of the Tallano-Tagean in Sitio Sauyo, Barangay Kuliat, Quezon City,
the Decision in favor of Don Esteban Benitez Tallano by way of Opposition Paper
with supported evidences adopted from government Position Paper and proof of
ownership over the land and proof of heirship to the late Prince Julian Macleod
Tallano and Prince Lacan Acuna Tagean Tallano and Intervention by Benito A.
Tallano that had submitted during the Hearing prior to the release of Decision
of July 14, 1964 which caused this case under LRC/Civil Case No, 3957-P as
consolidated one railroaded up to this proceedings.
[Ed: Let us pause to clarify a point that might be missed on
a first reading of the preceding two paragraphs. Judge Agana, in those paragraphs, revealed the mechanics of the
biggest attempted land-grab ever in the Philippines. The Macapagal Administration, represented by its Solicitor
General Felix Makasiar, had prepared its case, using its "government
Position Paper" to irrefutably establish the "proof of
ownership" of Tallanos while forever wiping out the claim of Hermogenes
Rodriguez. Makasiar then sent the
"summons and subpoenas" to the Tallano's old addresses, not expecting
them to find out about the case and show up in court to intervene. The intent was to show that OCT 01-4
belonged to the Tallanos, that there was no heir to the Estate, and therefore
it should revert to the National Government through the principle of Public
Domain. However, Benito A. Tallano
learned of the scheme in time to intervene, leaving the government no recourse
but to enter into the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE AGREEMENT.]
On the part of the National Government represented by then
they came to the stipulation for the issuance of the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT subject to the following terms and conditions, here to wit:
1. That
the Republic of the Philippines thru its President, His Excellency Diosdado
Macapagal waived its rights over the lands that are still found public lands or
land that have Land Title including their rights in Crisostomo Estate in the
City of Cabanatuan, yet, and if ever titled only those lands that have
fraudulent Land Titles be re-conveyed to and in favor of the heirs of Prince
Julian Macleod Tallano, provided the Land Reform should be respected
maintaining the land emancipated in favor of the farmer beneficiaries,
otherwise, conversion of the land covered by Land Reform into a commercial purposes
destroying the aims of land reform, automatically the ownership interest of the
subject land should be reversed in favor of the heirs of the true owner, late
Prince Julian Macleod Tallano; Don Esteban Benitez Tallano or their successor
in interest;
2. [Ed:
No. 2 sets the price to the government in case of expropriation of land for
government use. This is calculated by
region or province and by class of land, commercial, residential, and
agricultural, and represents a major undertaking. We will skip forward to a short section concerning land on pages
95-99.] [Quoting:]
Let's go back to other subject matter about the land, that a
Land Registration Court proceeding is an action in rem, therefore, the decree
of registration after it has been issued to the party in interest binds upon
the conclusive against all persons of any nature including this government, the
Republic of the Philippines and its branches, agencies and instrumentalities,
regardless or not they were notified of the filing of application intended for
registration, or neither or have appeared and filed for the corresponding
answer against such application, because, as a rule, all parties in interest
are considered as notified by the publication required by the law. This case was strongly cited in Sorsogon, et
al. vs. Makalintal, et al., 45 O.G. 9, 3819, September 1949, when the Royal
family, the Tagean-Tallano Clan, maintains their position that their Land Title
after it was published in the Gaceta de Manila sometime in March 14, 1902 under
the operation of Torrens System in accord with LRA 496 of 1902, their OCT No.
01-4 which was issued in the year 1764 with the decree of registration turned
conclusive because such decree of registration, once became final, could not be
subjected for attack by any person either by reason of minor age of the
co-owner, neither would there be found credible in the allegation that the
decreed persons, claiming as owners, held the property in trust or as co-heirs
when they filed their application for registration and correspondingly obtained
registration in their names, without opposition, upon establishing factual
informations their predecessors had been open as owners, and in what capacity
they gained the same which is true in a case of Gonzaga, et al. vs. Guanzon, et
al., 68 Phil. 351 (1939).
Similarly, this Court cannot sustain the defense of the
National Government, the heirs of Hermogenes Rodriguez, the heirs of Mariano
Severo Tuazon and the Tuazon Company, including the defense of the Ortigas and
Company that they were not around as party\in interest when the decree of
Registration over the same subject land had been conducted in proceedings since
in the rule of Registration, Decree of Registration could not be re-opened by
reasons of absence, minority or by reason of disability of any person adversely
affected by said decree of registration, not even by any proceeding in any
court, like this for instance, for traversing such judgment but may be
subjected, nevertheless to every right of any person including the government
and its branches thereof, their interest had been deprived by actual fraud
should be filed in the Court of origin or any court of competent jurisdiction
within one-year after the entry of such decree instituted as registered, which
patently true in a case of Cruz vs. Del Valle, 55 O.G. P. 9901, November 23,
1952, CA; Samonte, et al. vs. Descallar, et al., 107 Phil 198 (1960).
In the case at bar, both the National Government and the
herein oppositors failed and neither its government instrumentalities and
agencies had filed their petition for review after the Decree of Registration
No. 297 for the legalization of OCT 01-4, in accordance with the Land
Registration Act 496, had been registered on October 4, 1904, which said OCT
01-4 and its Decree of Registration becomes incontrovertible.
This case is a petition for the reconstitution of OCT 01-4
with annulment of all the titles described in a certification issued by the
Administrator of the Land Registration Commission, Hon. Antonio Noblejas, and with
Reconveyance of the subject land which are in the possession of the heirs of
the late Prince Julian Macleod Tallano, filed by the National Government thru
its Solicitor General Felix Makasiar, which the same, the National Government
had complied with the jurisdictional requirements enforced by Republic Act No.
26 and Circular No. 47 of February 19, 1949, but to no avail one more time, the
National Government lacked stronger evidences against the true owner, the
Tagean-Tallano clan. What the evidences
the government had used and presented were those documents and OCT 01-4 in the
name of the late Prince Lacan Acuna Tagean Tallano on strong confidence the
late Prince have no issue neither has surviving heirs. Such action of the government is only proper
under the Principle of Public Domain against the oppositor-claimants who have
also stronger evidences and titles although these were issued in the later date
of 1764 when the said OCT 01-4 had been issued in the name of Prince Lacan
Acuna Tagean Tallano, then eventually to the late Prince Julian Macleod Tallano
in the year 1864 which was affirmed in accordance with the Land Registration
Act 496 of the year 1902. And
parenthetically, the same was re-adjudicated in accordance with Cadastral Act
of 2259 on March 14, 1914. While the
Land Title of the oppositors-other claimants were issued only in the later year
of 1902, some in the year 1906, some in the year 1914, 1926, etc. Except the OCT 396 of the Hermogenes
Rodriguez which has been issued allegedly in the year 1864, 1868, 1896 and
1892, but it becomes the subject of this ruling against said OCT 369, which its
decree was found fraudulently defective in character as it were divulged in
this context.
Apparently, the National Government failed to refute the existence
of the lawful heirs of the late Prince Lacan Tagean and Prince Julian Macleod
Tallano on the mere fact that some of these heirs became instrumental in the
establishment of Central Bank of the Philippines in the year 1949 after Don
Esteban Benitez Tallano, accompanied by Reverend father Jose Antonio Diaz
through the efforts of brilliant lawyer, Attorney Ferdinand E. Marcos, had
transported the gold bullion from Vatican City which were used by the late
President Manuel Roxas, cousin of Don Esteban Benitez Tallano, as Gold Reserves
requirements. His information do not
intend to complicate the issue but a sound proof as to the existence of the
heirs of the late Prince that the government can not deny but rather it compel
to be guilt of estoppel which was raised by the surviving heirs.
[Ed: End Quoting. We
will now shift to the subject of gold beginning at page 85 and ending at page
95. Quoting:]
Corollary of this end, let traverse our judicial functions
into another horizon of responsibilities as administrator of justice not only
for the deprived parties but for the entire Filipino people for our nation's
economic breakthrough from its century ailing and sickly society with suffering
citizenry. That what involves in this
scenario is not only the government of His Excellency President Ferdinand E.
Marcos but also President Marcos himself, requiring the President to restore
the missing gold reserves of the Republic of the Philippines in the designated
Central Bank vaults consisting of 617,500 metric tons of 12.5 gold nuggets lent
and entrusted by the Royal Family, the Tagean-Tallano clans, through late
President Manuel Roxas, in favor of the Filipino people just to complete the
requirements set forth needed in the establishment of Philippine Central bank in
the year 1949. That the said gold
reserves paramountly attributed in the stability of peso value between 1949 to
1960, ranging the peso value of P2.00 for $1.00 U.S. dollar to P4.00 to $1.00
U.S. dollar.
But beyond the knowledge of the Filipino people, the basic
root that caused the Marcos-Macapagal quarrel was that the unlawful acts of
then Senate President Ferdinand E. Marcos which emanated from illegal transport
of some three (3) metric tons of gold nuggets to London and another seven (7)
tons to Zurich, Germany without permission from the private owner, the Royal
family, the Tagean-Tallano Clan, and of no consent of the then President
Diosdado Macapagal which were taken in place all of September 23, 1963;
considering that gold bullion was part and portion of the 617,500 metric tons
of 12.5 gold nuggets entrusted to the national government on January 7, 1949 by
the caretaker of the Royal Clan, Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz, his alias name is
Col. Severino Garcia Sta. Romana, for and in behalf of the Tagean-Tallano Royal
family.
That the Reverend father, before this Court and designated
Amicus Curae on May 5, 1972, he testified in an open court that he is the
caretaker of around 617,000 metric tons of gold nuggets own by the Royal
Family, the Tagean-Tallano Family headed by Don Esteban Benitez Tallano which
they transported to Vatican City in the year 1939 to secure the gold bullion
from the escalating World War II, and the Royal Family maintained it up to 1948
and was withdrawn and transported to the Philippines through the young lawyer
Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1949, then.
That in the presence of Atty. Lorenzo Tanada, the Clan's
lawyer, Don Esteban Benitez Tallano and Benito Tallano, the direct owners of
the said gold bullion; and in the presence of then His Excellency, late
President Manual Acuna Roxas, then La Union Congressman, Bishop Enrique C.
Sobrepena Sr., the second cousin of Maria Cristina Camacho, wife of said Benito
Tallano, Reverend Father Jose Antonio Diaz turned over said 617,500 gold
bullion which he kept long time ago under the blessings of some higher Spanish
officials in a dungeon in Fort Santiago in behalf of the Royal Family, Prince
Lacan Acuna Tagean Tallano who went to Europe before the war and eventually
under the custody of then the old National Treasury in Intramuros, Manila to
give way for the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines;
That the said Reverend Father, in his testimony before the
Court and the Amicus Curae, admitted that the gold inventory remained intact in
the Central Bank vaults up to the year 1964, Quote: except that some 10 tons in
my presence were forcibly withdrawn by the Senate Security Force led then by
Ex-Senate President Ferdinand E. Marcos, now, President of this Republic on
September 8, 1963 and had transported to nowhere;
That said Reverend Father was the one who gave idea to His
Excellency President Ferdinand E. Marcos to undertake the illegal withdrawal of
the said gold bullion from the Central bank vaults on the sense that Don
Esteban Benitez Tallano, heirs of the late Prince Julian Macleod Tallano, owner
of the said big bullion consisting of 617,500 metric tons died in Europe during
the American Occupation in 1898. And
the Reverend Father alleged: the heir Don Esteban Benitez Tallano died also
during the Japanese time, yet, the asset left with no will and no legitimate
heir, in spite of the fact that the truth was that the late Prince has a last
will and testament entrusted to the custody of Reverend Father Jose Antonio
Diaz clarifying that he has surviving heirs, Don Esteban Benitez Tallano,
Benito Tallano and the only son of Benito Tallano, Julian Morden Tallano who
also inherited the Title of Prince, bestowed upon him by the Royal Family in
accordance with the code of Koran in as much as although he has a fifty percent
(50%) British blood, his ancestors were Muslim-British Lords. That said Prince Julian Morden Tallano has
been authorized to administer and, when necessary, withdraw the said assets
deposited in the Central Bank vaults and all gold bullion deposited in Fort
Knox and in Zurich and in other countries that served as trustee of His
Excellency Ferdinand E. Marcos and he is entitled to collect the 5% of the 1
percent royalty fee of the national government starting from the year 1965, the
unpaid period of the government in as much as since 1949 to 1964 the government
had fully complied the royalty fee;
That the Reverend Father also admitted that the only gold
bullion balance left in the Central Bank vaults are consisting of 400,000
metric tons; others, some 217,500 metric tons between 1965 to 1970 were
illegally melted into another form of 75 kilos per bar and were transported to
different countries in Red China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Germany, Australia,
U.S.A. and in England;
Here is the excerpt from the testimonies of Reverend Father
Jose Antonio Diaz, alias Col. Severino Sta. Romana, taken in an open court room
on 10:35 A.M. of May 5, 1972, before this Court and Amicus Curae: [Ed: We note the inconsistency of this
date being AFTER the February 4, 1972 date of the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT, from whence it is taken as a direct quote from the Certified True
Copy.]
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
With your permission, your Honor, supplemental to my cross examination
to Reverend Father Jose Antonio Diaz, vital witness in connection with the
illegal transport of said gold bullion of my client, the Royal Family,
Tagean-Tallano Clan, which caused the sudden collapse of the value of
Philippine peso, may I ask some important questions, your Honor, relevant to
the Sworn Affidavit he executed before a notary public.
Court: Yes, you may,
provided the questions are relevant to the subject matter.
Amicus Curae: What
is the purpose?
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Yes, your Honor. To clarify
matters in connection with missing gold reserves.
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Do you own this typewritten Sworn Affidavit, Reverend Witness and how
did you come to know about the illegal transport of the deposited gold bullion
from the Central Bank Vaults and that of its exact date?
Witness: Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz: I was the one who signed this affidavit,
Sir, and being the caretaker of the Royal Family, I was the authorized
signatory for the withdrawal of that deposited gold bullion from the Central
Bank Vaults and I used it to withdraw the same as instructed to me by then
Honorable Senate President Ferdinand E. Marcos on September 8, 1963. Besides, I was the one who accompanied Don
Esteban Benitez Tallano in transporting the said gold bullion around 617,000
metric tons to Vatican City, your honor, sometime in 1939, to protect the item
from the fast escalating world War II, then, your Honor.
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
How many kilos did you withdraw that time?
Witness: Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz: Based on my arrangement with then Senate
President Marcos, we will withdraw only 3 tons or 3,000 kilos but when I and
Senate President Marcos were already in the Central Bank vaults, Central Bank
Governor Andres Castillo and Senator Marcos convinced me to sign the withdrawal
document containing 35,000 tons that time, I have no choice but to sign.
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Reverend Witness, after signing the withdrawal document you mentioned,
what transpired next?
Witness: Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz: Right at that moment, Senator Marcos withdrew
the gold bullion from the vault and loaded these on four (4) trailer trucks
escorted by Philippine Army members led by unknown colonel and 4 members of the
Philippine Constabulary and were driven toward the departure area of the Manila
International Airport, then, Sir;
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Reverend Witness, when you were in the MIA departure area, what follows
next?
Witness: Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz: I witnessed the unloading of the gold from
the trailers, Sir, which were packed in 70 pieces of wooden crates and they
loaded these in the belly of the KLM airline that time.
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Reverend Witness, you said you were there when the repacking of the gold
had been done, how long did it take?
Witness: Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz: Because when we arrived in the Central Bank,
the time was 8:00 o'clock in the morning.
When they finished packaging and loading to the trailers, the time was
3:00 o'clock in the afternoon, so approximately Sir, it took seven (7) hours
long when we finished.
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Being the caretaker of the Tallano-Tagean family's gold bullion, can you
tell to this Honorable Court how many and what is the exact number of kilos do
the Tagean-Tallano Family had deposited in the vaults of the Central Bank?
Witness: Rev. Fr. Jose:
Exactly around 617,500 metric tons that the Tagean-Tallano had deposited
to the vault through me in the year 1949 which we transported from the Vatican
city in the year 1948 the same were lent to the national government to meet the
required gold reserves of the newly organized and installed Central Bank
then. But lately, when I went to the
Central Bank along with the heirs, Don Esteban Benitez Tallano and Prince
Julian Morden Tallano for verification and inventory recently, we found that
the only exact inventory remained intact in the vault was 400,000 metric tons,
while, what I withdrew that time beyond the knowledge of the owner through
instruction of then Senate President Marcos, now President of this Republic was
35,000 metric tons leaving a supposed inventory balance of 482,500 metric tons,
but this was inconsistent to our findings where the last inventory balance was
only 400,000 metric tons. Definitely,
Sir, they used fraudulently my signature to withdraw such 82,500 metric tons.
Solicitor Guttierez:
Your Honor, I wish to call the attention of the Honorable Court to
strike ... the words as follows: but this was inconsistent to our findings
where the last inventory balance was only 400,000 metric tons. Definitely, Sir, they used fraudulently my
signature to withdraw such 82,500 metric tons.
Amicus Curae: For
what purpose?
Solicitor Gutierez:
The answer of the witness was not responsive to the question profound by
the counsel. Beside, his statement
about the withdrawal of 82,500 metric tons is merely more on hearsay because he
was not there when the alleged withdrawal of 82,500 metric tons took place.
Atty. Cesar Paras Sr.:
Objection, your Honor, the witness has the right opinion which is valid
based on his authority designated to him by my client that he is the only
person that has an authority to withdraw said gold bullion deposits.
Court: Alright, just
maintain the record, eventually, we will cross the bridge when needed.
Enough over such testimonies that that we can no longer deny
the veracity of the Reverend Father's Statement and in as much as no opposition
from the government except they signified their conformity to issue this
DECISION WITH COMPROMISE AGREEMENT between the Republic of the Philippines
represented by His Excellency President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his Solicitor
General and by the party in interest, Mr. Benito A. Tallano and his son, Prince
Julian Morden Tallano, represent by their Legal Counsel, Atty. Cezar Paras Sr.
[END Quoting]
COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHORS:
Father Diaz/Colonel Santa Romana seems to have either fudged
the truth a bit, or forgot his arithmetic (not likely). In another version of the Vatican story
about the Royal Family/Sultanate of Sulu gold, (30%) was given to Diaz/Marcos
as a fee for arranging its return from the Vatican to the Philippines. It is said that 30% of the gold was sent by
Diaz/Marcos directly to Switzerland and there entrusted to a banker named
Nicholas Senn. Diaz (above) has
subtracted 35,000 metric tons from 617,500 metric tons "leaving a supposed
inventory balance of 482,500…", which is incorrect since the balance
should be 582,500 metric tons, a discrepancy of exactly 100 metric tons. Diaz goes on to volunteer, "Definitely,
Sir, they used fraudulently my signature to withdraw such 82,500 metric
tons," when he should have said, "182,500 metric tons".
Most interesting is the fact that 30% (the fee to
Diaz/Marcos confirmed at page 20 of the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE AGREEMENT) of
617,500 metric tons is equal to 185,250 tons, leaving 432,250 tons in the
Central Bank vault. Removing 35,000
metric tons would have left 397,250, a discrepancy of only 2,750 tons from the
400,000 Fr. Diaz testified to at trial: "But lately, when I went the Central
Bank along with the heirs, Don Esteban Benitez Tallano and Prince Julian Morden
Tallano for verification and inventory recently, we found that the only exact
inventory remain intact in the vault then was 400,000 metric tons…"
Other documents and stories we have heard tend toward the
likelihood that the 185,250 tons went to the Swiss Banking Corporation and the
remainder of 582,500 tons were brought back to Fort Santiago and were
subsequently moved to the Central Bank vault constructed in Quezon City during
the early years of the Marcos Presidency.
Judge Enrique A. Agana's ORDER at page 121, Paragraph 9 of
the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE AGREEMENT is quoted as follows:
"Ordering
the National Government, Office of the President of the Philippines and his
staffs, the National Treasurer and his staffs, the solicitor General and his
staffs and the Governor of the Central Bank to relocate the remaining inventory
balance of 400,000 metric tons of gold nuggets own by the Royal Family, the
Tagean-Tallano family, and, when relocated, return the same to the vaults of
the Central Bank for the interest of the Filipino people to serve as U.S.
dollar reserves required by the IMF and the World banks, while that 5% of that
1% of the required royalty fee which was unpaid starting in the year 1969 to
the present and to its succeeding year until the precious metals has been
withdrawn based on the prevailing market price should be paid directly to the
authorized Heir, Prince Julian Morden Tallano." [End Quoting]
IN SUMMARY, we do not hesitate to honor and revere Judge Agana
for his respect for and adherence to the law.
He quite obviously forced the Diosdado Macapagal Administration to a
fair and logical AGREEMENT which, had it been followed by both sides, the
government and Royal Family, would have resulted in unprecedented progress and
wealth for the nation and all of its people.
If the Royal Family had set up the Foundation as instructed and staffed
it with professional business managers the government would have had far less
justification for continuing to try to circumvent the DECISION WITH COMPROMISE
AGREEMENT, which it does to this day.
On the other hand, both the Macapagal Administration and the Marcos
Administration could have done far more in cooperating and working with Tallanos
to effect the practical implementation of the AGREEMENT.
That error has been compounded by all of the subsequent
Administrations, resulting in the deaths of millions of poverty-stricken
people, the pollution of the air and water, the loss of thousands of hectares
of forestlands, and the uncompleted transportation, power, water, waste
management, and communications infrastructure that was so carefully planned
during the Marcos Administration. It is
"not too late" to bring that abundance to the Philippines, and a
start has been made.
Prince Julian Morden Tallano has set up the "DON
ESTEBAN BENITEZ TALLANO & DON GREGORIO MADRIGAL ACOP FOUNDATION, INC."
and has appointed qualified Trustees to manage it. When the Administration elects to use the DEEDS OF ASSIGNMENT FOR CONSIDERATION offered by Global Alliance
Investment Association (GAIA) as qualified banking RESERVES, GAIA can provide
the necessary RESERVES to joint venture with the National Treasury to purchase
the gold from the Foundation. Because
it is a sovereign nation, the National Treasury can issue new pesos to the
Foundation to purchase the gold, giving the Foundation the funds it needs to
pay its Real Estate and Property Taxes all over the Archipelago, thus
benefiting all of the barangays and municipalities that receive all or part of
their funding from Real Estate and Property Taxes. These funds could begin to flow within a few days of reaching the
appropriate agreements, which are already mostly drawn up and ready for
adoption.
If this is a government of, for, and by the people, and the
people are tired of not having enough to eat, or of having to breathe polluted
air and drink unsafe water, the people should let their elected representatives
know that they want to use this solution to their problems. The Foundation is ready; the Alliance is
ready, and all that is needed is for the government to do its part.
EXECUTIVE OFFICES, 6751 Ayala Avenue,
Makati City, Philippines Tel
843-1698 Fax 843-1707