THE property being offered by the Villar family for donation to the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) Cavite Extension Project is currently mortgaged to a private universal bank, acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez confirmed yesterday.
Lopez disclosed that two of the six parcels of land along the C-5 Road Extension in Las Piñas City are mortgaged to China Banking Corp., adding that the government is working to address the issue as part of the ongoing right-of-way negotiations.
The property is intended for the proposed Las Piñas LRT-1 Station, one of the three remaining stations under Phases 2 and 3 of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, together with the Zapote and Niog stations.
The remaining Cavite segment has yet to proceed because of unresolved right-of-way issues. Negotiations between the government, through the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), and the Villar Group over the proposed donation of the property for the Las Piñas Station have been ongoing for the past six years.
In a radio interview, Lopez said he only learned this month from the DOTr’s technical working group that the Villar Group property intended for the project had been mortgaged.
However, Lopez declined to disclose the amount of the mortgage, citing the Bank Secrecy Law.
Following Lopez’s disclosure, Las Piñas Lone District Rep. Mark Anthony Santos said the revelation raises serious questions about earlier public pronouncements that the property would simply be donated to the government.
“A mortgaged property remains subject to the rights of the lending bank unless the mortgage is released or the mortgagee expressly consents to the transfer. The government must first determine whether the property can be legally transferred with a clean and unencumbered title before accepting any donation,” Santos said.
Santos stressed that Lopez’s admission highlights the need for the DOTr to exercise the highest degree of due diligence in evaluating the proposed donation.
“The DOTr must ensure that the property is legally transferable and free from encumbrances before the government accepts it. Otherwise, the project could face further delays, legal complications, or additional costs at the expense of taxpayers,” he said.
The lawmaker also renewed his call for the DOTr to publicly release all relevant documents, including the proposed deed of donation, title records, and documents relating to the mortgage, to assure the public that the government’s interests are fully protected before any transfer of ownership takes place.
“The Filipino people deserve full transparency. If the government is asking the public to believe that the right-of-way issue is being resolved through a donation, then it must also disclose all the documents proving that the property can be lawfully transferred to the government,” Santos said.
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