Tax Realty Consultant

Sstill hanging in the Supreme Court is the so-called Maysilo estate case, running for almost 50 years now, putting on edge hundreds of thousands of residents of Malabon, Caloocan, Quezon City and Valenzuela.

Remember that the case involves 300 hectares of land in those cities — on which stand thousands of houses, hundreds of factories, government buildings, large universities, malls, and a good part of the North Luzon Expressway.

A group called CLT Realty is claiming the 300 hectares, the ownership of which has long been exercised by the Manotok group, the Araneta family, and thousands of ordinary folk.

Earlier, the Supreme Court in effect ruled in favor of CLT Realty, when it affirmed the decision of the lower courts on the case, saying that the Supreme Court was not a “trier” of facts.

The government then intervened in the case because of the state properties falling under the claim of CLT Realty. The Office of the Solicitor General subsequently presented to the Supreme Court proof the CLT Realty title was a fabrication.

Thus the Supreme Court is now reviewing its earlier ruling.

Just which way it would go, is surely being watched by the thousands of residents of those cities.

In one subdivision, the Santo Niño Kapitbahayan, for instance, about 450 families will be directly affected by the Supreme Court ruling.

The University of the East, Gregorio Araneta University-De la Salle and Manila Central University (and their 20,000 or so students) may also have to relocate.

Also to be affected by the Supreme Court ruling are the Grand Central, Araneta Square, Bonifacio Market, Victory Liner and Pure Gold.

It may even threaten the real property tax systems of the four cities, since businesses will have to abandon their sites to give way to the claim of CLT Realty.

Moreover, the Supreme Court ruling may spill over to the rest of the Maysilo estate, which actually covers some 1,660 hectares of land.

That means that the number of families to be affected by the high court decision may run to more than 300,000. It is going to be that messy.