Road right of way battle drags on

A cargo truck and some culverts are placed on the center of J. Panis Street preventing vehicles from going to the Main Hotel and Suites in Banilad. The blockade is the result of a protracted dispute on the road right of way. CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

The owners of a hotel in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City are having sleepless nights, afraid that they and their guests may not be able to go out to the main road anymore.

For the past four years, Main Hotel and Suites have been at the mercy of the owner of a lot located right in front of their property along the Gov. M Cuenco Ave. or the Ban-Tal road.

In an interview with Cebu Daily News, the hotel owners’ lawyer Danilo Go discussed their long-standing land dispute with the owner of the lot that even resulted in the closure of J. Panis road which separates the two properties.

According to Go, the approximately 5,000 square-meter lot in front of their hotel, which used to be part of the old Lahug Airport, was owned by a certain Benjamin Young.

It even came to a point in 2012 that the lot where the hotel now stands was completely closed off by Young who built a wall preventing them any access.

“We were trapped. So in 2012, we filed a petition for road right of way which ended in an amicable settlement to take down the wall and that we will be given a 62.6-square meter area as our right of way and of course we will have to pay for it,” Go said.

Under the agreement, they were supposed to buy the lot for a price of P40,000 per square meter or P2.4 million.

Main Hotel and Suites eventually opened its business in December 2013. The seven-storey building has 45 bedrooms.

On the other hand, Young has sold his lot to Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. which constructed a gasoline station on the site.

Go said they have been trying to communicate with the lawyer of Young that they are already willing to pay for their road right of way but he said they kept putting it off.

As for the hotel, business has been going well until this January when they received communication from Young’s lawyer Mark Anthony Gaviola that they should settle things.

However, when they resurveyed the property, they were informed that they will just be getting a 26-square meter area costing P1 million. They were also told that they will get the remaining 36.6-square meter area later on. But they found out that this portion would traverse an area where houses still stand.

The original portion intended for them under the 2012 settlement would include J. Panis Street which, according to Go was part of the entire lot sold by Young to Phoenix Petroleum.

He said Phoenix would not allow them to have the original portion since they would be constructing a franchise of Jollibee on the road itself which has been closed from public use since 2014.

National road

So aside from their problem on access, Go and the hotel owners are also questioning how Young’s camp was able to secure a title on J. Panis St. when it is actually a national road according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“This should be reclaimed by DPWH and that will be done through the Office of the Solicitor General. But it has to be the DPWH Secretary that will request for it,” Go said.

He added that he already sent letters to the DPWH offices in Cebu and in Manila for them to intervene but to no avail.
The Cebu City Government also became involved in the controversy after Go’s camp brought it up to City Hall’s Office of the Building Official (OBO).

In fact, Go and the lawyers of Young and Phoenix Petroleum together with Cebu City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez already met last year where the latter told the lawyers that a national road should be beyond commerce and should remain accessible to the public.

Go said despite this, Phoenix continued with construction works on their gasoline station. In January 2018, he said workers were again doing excavations on the road itself so he again brought it up to OBO for it to be stopped.

Apart from the hotel owners, Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman also joined the call for J. Panis St. to be reopened to the public.

He recalled that a few years back, some of the residents affected by the road closure approached him regarding the concern.

Ayuman showed a certification from DPWH-7 dated April 24, 2013 which stated that J. Panis St. is still identified as a national road.

He also showed a copy of City Ordinance No. 1139 which formally names the road as J. Panis St. in honor of the late Engr. Joaquin Panis who once served as Cebu City Councilor and head of the committee on public works. Panis also served as the Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Communications under then President Sergio Osmeña Sr. in the early years after liberation.

Negotiations

In a separate interview with CDN, lawyer Gaviola explained that they have secured a ruling from the Supreme Court that J. Panis is part of the property owned by Young and eventually sold to Phoenix Petroleum.

He said a court sheriff even implemented the court order which resulted to the road’s closure.

But contrary to suspicions of the owners of Main Hotel and Suites, Gaviola said Phoenix has no plans of removing their access and trapping them in their property.

“What Phoenix is doing is they are trying to exercise ownership rights. The access was not closed. It was just reduced,” Gaviola said.
Although he is the lawyer of Young, Gaviola said he has also been coordinating with Phoenix Petroleum as one of their lawyers since he is more knowledgeable about the situation.

According to Gaviola, there were negotiations between the hotel owners and Phoenix wherein the latter offered to give them a right of way that will give access from the main road straight to their hotel, passing through the gas station.

Phoenix offered to give the access for free for 15 years. After which, the hotel owners will have to pay a “minimal amount” yearly for life.

This setup was already agreed informally but when they were about to sign a new agreement, Gaviola said that Go and the hotel owners did not want to sign anymore and just insisted on getting what was in the original amicable settlement in 2012 which Gaviola said would still not be enough for them to get road right of way all the way to the main road.

Still closed

On the other hand, this continued objection from the hotel owners has kept Phoenix Petroleum from opening.

In a statement sent to CDN, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. denied that they are harassing the hotel owners.

“If there is someone who is harassed, it is Phoenix because for one year now we have been unable to open due to their objection. The company has negotiated with them giving them access for a period of 15 years for free but they have refused to sign leaving us in limbo!” said Atty. Raymond Zorilla, VP for external affairs of Phoenix.