Get out of Mile Long property, court tells tenants

A Makati City court on Tuesday directed the realty firm owned by the Prieto-Rufino clan and all other tenants to vacate the controversial Mile Long property.

Judge Maryann Corpus Mañalac of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 141 issued the notice to vacate against Sunvar Realty Development Corp. and the tenants following the resolution issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) Former Fifth Division on Monday in favor of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

Sunvar and the tenants have three days from receipt of the notice to vacate the 2.9-hectare property, after which the Makati court will place the government in "actual and physical possession" of the property to satisfy the writ of execution.

Solicitor General Jose Calida and court sheriff Robert Bautista went to the Mile Long property to serve the notice.

The OSG earlier sought from the CA the execution of the June 2015 ruling of the Makati City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 61 ordering Sunvar to get out of the property.

The lower court also directed Sunvar to pay back rentals amounting to P478.2 million as of May 2015, with monthly rentals of P3.2 million starting June 2015 until they leave the property.

The lot is owned by the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which leased the property to the Technology Resource Center Foundation Inc. (TRCFI) for 25 years from January 1, 1978 to December 31, 2002, renewable for another 25 years.

After the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, TRCFI was dissolved and the rights to the property were given to the Philippine Development Alternatives Foundation (PDAF). It was PDAF that entered into a sublease agreement with Sunvar to develop commercial facilities in the property.

Napocor, however, intended not to renew the lease in 2002 and informed PDAF and Sunvar to vacate the property as the government planned to sell the lot.

But the realty firm argued that it had the exclusive option to extend the lease for another 25 years under the same terms of the previous contract and refused to vacate the property even after a number of notices.

Napocor sued Sunvar for unlawful detainer OSG at the Metropolitan Trial Court in Makati City in July 2009.

In June 2015, the Makati MeTC Branch 61 ruled in favor of the government and ordered Sunvar to vacate the property.

“Instead of abiding by the MeTC decision by vacating the property and paying the rent, Sunvar filed a prohibited pleading after another to stop the government from implementing the decision," Calida said in a press conference on July 28.

"Sunvar did not even file a bond and deposit the accruing rentals every month as required by the Rules of Court to stay the execution pending appeal."

However, acting on a petition of Sunvar, the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 59 issued an injunction against the MeTC ruling which the CA Former Fifth Division recently struck down for lack of jurisdiction. —JST, GMA News