By CONG B. CORRALES
Associate Editor and
NITZ ARANCON, Correspondent
THE Philippine Red Cross filed a damage suit against Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano and a mysterious woman named Rhea Ritzie P. Nueva in connection with their controversial 2013 agreement for the lease of a 1,029-square meter property across the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC).
This is shown in a 2017 civil case for accion publiciana or recovery of possession and damages filed by the Red Cross, through lawyers George Soriano and Kathryn Tan Elemen, against Emano and Nueva.
The Red Cross case gave a new twist to the controversy caused by the Emano-Nueva agreement in that the country’s premier humanitarian organization has claimed ownership of the entire property across the NMMC that the governor leased out.
In the 2013 agreement, Emano allowed Nueva to lease the property for some P102,900 a month, and then engage in subletting.
In the seven-page civil case filed on June 21, 2017, the Red Cross asked the court to cause the defendants and those occupying the 1,029-square meter property to vacate.
In the document, the Red Cross said the Emano-Nueva deal involved parcels of land which the organization owns. It presented the court evidence: Transfer Certificate of Title T-206242 and Transfer Certificate of Title T-206243.
The Red Cross alleged that the Emano and Nueva lease agreement was done without the knowledge of those behind the humanitarian organization.
“Sometime in October 2013, plaintiff [Red Cross] noticed some construction was being undertaken and stalls were being built by strangers on certain portions of its above-mentioned properties and immediately investigated,” reads part of the Red Cross complaint.
The group said it found out that Emano, representing the capitol, entered into an agreement with Nueva under the company name Capitol Lease Ventures on Sept. 3, 2013.
“Said lease by defendant Emano to defendant Nueva of portions of plaintiff’s properties was without plaintiff’s knowledge and consent,” the complaint reads.
Sometime in November 2013, the Red Cross, through its lawyer, advised Emano to stop the “encroachment” and “illegal construction” on its property but the latter did not heed the advice.
The Red Cross stated that it even sent various requests for the defendants “to desist the acts of dispossession.”
It said it sought the eviction of the occupants from the property through demand letters but the lawyer of Capitol Lease Ventures instead sent a letter dated July 4, 2016, to the Red Cross, reiterating that the company has a valid lease agreement with the provincial government.
The response prompted the Red Cross to inquire from the provincial board if there was indeed such agreement. The request resulted in the issuance of certification, issued by Melina Pioquinto, secretary to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, declaring: “ …no resolution has been passed and approved by the 16th Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Misamis Oriental approving the execution of the Lease Contract Agreement.”
Red Cross’ lawyers said that since 2013, the defendants effectively dispossessed the humanitarian organization of its property “in derogation of the rights of the owner to dominion and possession” of the parcels of land.
Through the civil complaint, the Red Cross demanded that Emano, Nueva, and all the occupants to vacate the property and pay P3.395,700 as a reasonable rent from October 2014 to June 2017.
The group also asked the court to make the defendants pay for all the litigation expenses.
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