FIVE persons sought court intervention to reacquire their property that was supposed to be used for the expansion of the old Lahug Airport.
In their complaint filed before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City, Rosal Santiago, Geronimo Santiago, Elizabeth Abarquez, Edward Cañizares and Estrellita Palomar said the government should return their property to them.
“Lot No. 77 was never used for the particular public purpose for which it was taken because the expansion of the Lahug Airport had not been pursued and the airport was eventually closed,” the plaintiff’s lawyer Roberto Rublico said.
The expansion of the Lahug Airport didn’t push through and its operations were terminated in 1966 due to the construction of the Mactan International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City.
The area where the old airport was situated was eventually converted into a commercial and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) district now known as the I.T. Park.
They requested the court to declare a failure of expropriation of Lot No. 77 and order the government to return the property to them. The area had been occupied by settlers for decades.