Three years after being told to vacate their office at the Catanduanes State University due to the expiration of its usufruct contract, the Philippine Fiber Development Authority (PhilFIDA) is back at the compound.
It is occupying the two-storey building formerly utilized as an information center for abaca farmers while its former one-storey building is now used as the Abaca Technology and Innovation Center (ATIC) of the university.
PhilFIDA Provincial Fiber Officer Roberto Lusuegro told this writer that his office has already signed another agreement with CatSU management covering the building’s use for a period of five years, renewable upon its expiration.
However, the document has to be amended to reflect the change in administration at PhilFIDA, which is now headed by Executive Director Evelyn Cagasan.
Under the agreement, PhilFIDA commits to collaborate with ATIC on research activities.
In fact, Lusuegro disclosed, the agency has already provided technical assistance, with ATIC head Dr. Abelisa Evangelista undergoing training at the central office on abaca disease detection.
Last Feb. 9, PhilFIDA also donated one unit of LAMP (Loop Isothermal Mediated Amplification) device, which was handed over by scientist Dr. Lenie Galvez to the ATIC chief.
The LAMP is able to detect or confirm the presence of the virus that causes Abaca Bunchy Top Disease (ABTD), Abaca Mosaic (AM) and Abaca Bract Mosaic within 30 minutes right in the field.
Previously, the agency used ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) but the samples have to be brought to the diagnostic laboratory at the regional office and the results take two to three weeks to be released.
Lusuegro said that other LAMP units will be given to the 11 municipal governments for use of their agriculture offices while another unit will be for the PhilFIDA provincial office.
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Legal disputes over real property generally take decades before it is resolved by the courts. And this is exactly what happened in a case in Baras that was recently resolved by the Court of Appeals.
The registered landowner filed the case in October 2009, claiming that a neighbor was unlawfully occupying a portion of her lot in Osmeña and refused to vacate despite repeated demands.
The neighbor countered by asserting that her family had maintained prolonged possession and ownership of the property for 41 years.
The Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Baras-Gigmoto agreed with the neighbor, ruling that the landowner failed to demonstrate possession of the subject lot. It said that the neighbor’s possession had ripened into a claim of ownership through acquisitive prescription, or peaceful, uninterrupted possession through the lapse of time.
On appeal before the Regional Trial Court, the latter reversed the MCTC ruling and ordered the neighbor to vacate the property.
The appeals court likewise dismissed the appeal of the neighbor, brushing aside her contention that the owner’s legal rights over the land had been extinguished when she asserted her claim in 2009.
In the CA decision, it was held that tax declarations presented by the owner are solid evidence sufficient to prove that she had prior possession of the land.
“The ownership or possession in the eyes of the law does not mean that a man has to have his feet on every square meter of the land before it can be assumed that he is in possession,” the Court said.
Laches, or the delay in asserting one’s right to property, is not resolved by simply counting the years that passed before an action is instituted, it stressed, as the delay must be proven to be unreasonable and must lead to the conclusion that the claimant abandoned his or her right.
There are probably a lot more of these cases, particularly with respect to properties with absentee owners or those who live elsewhere.
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THE WISH. A husband and wife find a magical genie lamp. They rub it, and a genie comes out, granting them both a wish. The wife wishes to travel around the world. The genie nods, and poof! She has tickets in her hand. The husband thinks for a moment and says, “I wish my wife was 30 years younger than me.” The genie nods, and poof! The husband is now 90.