By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
TWO prominent lawyers in the city on Monday cautioned Mayor Oscar Moreno against ordering the demolition of structures built by Barangay 33 chairman Conrad Lim on a disputed reclamation area in Lapasan that is in the way of a coastal road project.
Former vice mayor Antonio Soriano and former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) local chapter president Rey Raagas said Moreno would risk a lawsuit if city hall resorts to “shortcuts.”
The two lawyers gave Moreno an unsolicited advice: sue Lim and ask a court to order the demolition.
Soriano and Raagas said Moreno could end up being administratively charged if city hall demolishes the structures without a court order.
“Assuming that Lim’s reclamation was illegal, he (Moreno) cannot just order a demolition because Lim should be given the chance to answer and cite his reasons why he undertook the reclamation project. It could be that he has reasons for doing what he did,” said Raagas.
Without a court order, Raagas said city hall would risk paying for damages.
Soriano said city hall or the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) should go to court where Lim would be compelled to answer the lawsuit.
Soriano said the DPWH may move to take back the reclamation area while Moreno may file an ejectment or an unlawful detainer case against Lim. The latter is a summary action for the recovery of possession of real property.
“Mayor Moreno can ask the court to eject Lim from the reclamation area if the property is not his, if that property belongs to the government. That would fall under the power of eminent domain of the government,” Soriano said.
He said it would not take the court long to decide on an ejectment or unlawful detainer case.
“Summary proceedings ra man kana,” he said.
Raagas, for his part, said Moreno may also opt to go for condemnation proceedings against Lim.
“Things would become complicated if you carry out a raid and start demolishing structures because you cannot take the law into your own hands, and because there is a legal process. It should be a court order,” said Raagas.
But another lawyer, former city hall legal consultant James Judith, disagreed with Soriano and Raagas even as he asserted that Moreno can have Lim’s structures demolished even without a court order.
He said all it would take is political will on the part of Moreno to drive Lim away from the reclamation area, and not a court order.
Judith said Moreno can invoke Section 28 of RA 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act.
“Dili niya (Moreno) isapayan kon kasohan siya ni Lim. Tutal ang iyang gibarogan ang interes man sa katawhan,” said Judith who earlier said he would bring the matter to the attention of President Duterte.
Judith, who served as a city hall consultant during the first term of Moreno as mayor, argued that the reclamation area is a public domain.
“Ejectment, unlawful detainer or condemnation applies when when you want someone who’s stubborn out of a private property. But this property is part of the sea. That makes it public domain. Why would you need a court order when it belongs to the government?” Judith asked rhetorically.
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