Osmeña: Statute of fraud

Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements

TITLE to realty is a legal concept, which confers upon the rightful holder a lawful claim to all the requisites or elements that constitute ownership. Title legally conferred sanctions not only exclusive possession to an owner, but also recourse to legal power to defend his title holdings.

Transfers by delivery give rise to many disputes. There being no written record of transaction, false statements have led to gross frauds and forcible possession.

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As a result, the “statute of frauds” was eventually adopted, which prevented fraud by declaring that no transfer should be enforceable unless in writing. From this statute flows the present system of transferring title by means of written instruments; the deed, mortgage, lease, etc. However, although the statute of frauds in substance has been enacted into law, there are still numerous cases of illegal transfer of properties through forgery of legal documents.

Title examiners, as well as those who facilitate conveyance of titles, operating in Cebu will tell you of the numerous cases of titles recovered due to frauds. The term title must be considered as including not only the full fee, but any other interest in real property.

Under strict legal rule, title to real property can be transferred in two ways: by operation of law and by purchase or as a gift. As landed property has become more valuable and ownership of real estate more diverse, it is increasingly important to provide safeguards to protect the true owner from loss of title by claim, error or fraud.

Unfortunately, there is no cooperative aid from public and private agencies in the transfer of title by the rightful and true owner in the present Torrens System of titling.

Under the provisions of the law, the initial registration is by means of a judicial proceeding, resulting in an order or judgment of a court. But the law permits the transfer of a registered title to be made by a registrar or other public official without notice to anyone. This provision is upon the assumption that the transfer is merely the performance of a ministerial act.

The question has been raised whether such an official, not being clothed with any judicial authority, is not in reality performing a judicial function in interpreting an instrument and passing upon it sufficiency. The registration of the title in the name of the new owner is conclusive and binding upon all the world. Of course, one would not be allowed to profit by his fraud, if a forgery or other fraud has been committed, but the registered title may again be transferred, and one taking it in good faith would have an indefeasible title.

In cases of this kind, injured parties must look to the assurance funds (although that is not enough); they cannot recover their property. However, in cases where it is legally possible to recover the title, it is neither easy nor speedy.

It can be expensive, too.

To illustrate, the 400-square meter lot at Buena Hills Subdivision that I own was illegally transferred to another individual without my knowledge. Forged documents were submitted to the registrar to effect transfer of the title.

The new title was eventually split into two titles and mortgaged to the bank.

Cases like this should require the registrar to send notices to all parties to prove the authenticity of the documents submitted in relation to the transfer of title.

Congress needs to accept that no system of title searching is perfect. As previously indicated, errors may creep in, or forgeries and other things that cannot be guarded against may cause loss.

To remedy this situation, title insurance has come into use in the larger cities of developing countries. Like all other insurance, title insurance is a distribution of loss
among all insured. Unfortunately, there is little public demand to legislate a model Land Title Registration Law.

In many countries, real estate owners and dealers are alive and receptive to good ideas, but they are not using the Torrens system which the Philippines has adopted.

Although there are defects in the system of title examination and insurance, it evidently possesses more attractions than the one advocated by Torrens Law adherence.

Hopefully, Congress will introduce some modifications to remove its present objections on the Torrens System, not only to prevent fraud but to correct the tedious procedure for registration of titles.

P15M for eco-tourism

By Nancy R. Cudis

BEFORE the end of this year, Cebu will have a new adventure and eco-tourism facility that will serve as source of funding for reforestation projects in the province.

The facility, which is yet to be named, will be located on a 13-hectare timberland area in Barangays Gaas and Magsaysay in Balamban, Cebu. It is targeted to be operational by November.

The Canton family secured a Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas for the area for 25 years. The Cantons have allocated P15 million as start-up capital for the eco-tourism facility.

Oscar Canton, founder of Cebu-based Carsons Construction, recalled a report by the National Geographic, describing Cebu as the worst climate hotspot in the entire Philippines.

“We should do something about it. Since my family is not financially capable to provide a substantial revenue stream devoted for reforestation projects, we decided to invest in eco-tourism,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

When the project becomes operational, he said that at least 20 percent of revenues will be used to fund reforestation projects, especially in central Cebu where a large portion of the province’s watershed forest reserves is located.

“We already received the go-signal from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They are very happy about the project. It will not cost them any centavo,” he said.

Employment

The Canton family came up with plans for the facility a month and a half ago. The Cantons approached Mindanao-based Camp Sabros to supply the facility’s equipment and provide safety training to its staff. The future eco-tourism project will employ at least 12 residents.

The first and main component of the new investment is a 700-meter zipline that will be twice as long as the one at the Danao Adventure Park in Danao, Bohol.

It will also feature an adventure academy where students, professionals and can embark on adventure activities as part of their leadership or teambuilding seminars.

“We hope to develop among them the love for the environment through actual experience with nature,” said Barry, Oscar’s son, who will serve as the facility’s chief operations officer.

Eventually, the facility will feature more activities such as caving, river trekking and organic farming.

“We will try and make do with what we have. We received feedback from enthusiasts who say that the caving adventure in Barangay Gaas is very good but the system needs improvement,” Barry said.

He observed that many adventure enthusiasts and even hotels are clamoring for more adventure and eco-tourism activities to offer their clients.

“When the facility is in place and made known, then it would be easy to market it,” he said.

Cebu records highest foreign arrivals in RP

By Ehda M. Dagooc (The Freeman) Updated August 06, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - Even as Cebu emerged only as the second most visited destination during the first half of 2009, it turned out to be the top preferred destination for foreign visitors in the entire Philippines.

A record from the Department of Tourism Planning and Promotions Department, revealed that Cebu generated a total of 321,116 foreign tourists in the first semester of this year and topped the over-all foreign arrival comparative by provinces.

The record, however, showed that Cebu only comes second in the most visited destination in the country next to Camarines Sur, which posted a hefty growth in both foreign and domestic arrivals by 52 percent and 260 percent, respectively, ranking it as the most visited destination in the first six months this year.

Cebu emerged as second most visited tourist destination with 830,599 visitors, claiming 23 percent share of total arrival. But, Cebu continues to be the top destination for foreign tourists with 321,116 in the first semester

DOT attributed its sustained position of Cebu as top foreign tourists drawer, the expansion in air access from major tourist markets, including the new chartered flights from Incheon, Busan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Kaohsiung as well as increase in room supply, aggressive promotion, public and private sector partnership to diversify the tourism products greatly contributed to the hike in visitor volume to Cebu.

Visitor count in Puerto Princesa and Bohol went up by 63 percent and 16 percent, respectively, as diving, ecotourism, bird-watching, adventure and incentive tourism products were jointly launched by the DOT, LGUs and the private sector.

Increased demand also ushered the conception of more community-based tourism products that increased the availability of product offering and livelihood for local residents.

Overall, tourist arrivals in the top 16 tourism destinations went up by 16.5 percent reaching close to four million in the first semester of 2009.

According to DOT its efforts to maximize opportunities in international markets and encourage greater domestic travel movement in the first six months provided the impetus to sustain tourism growth in the midst of challenges brought by the global financial crisis and Influenza A (H1N1).

This feat is attributed to the substantial increase in domestic tourism by 20 percent in the second quarter of 2009, which enhanced the business and investment confidence in the sector during the period January to June 2009.

Likewise, the changing lifestyle and travel pattern of more Filipinos and Philippine residents to spend their Holy Week, long weekends and summer/ holiday vacation in the various tourist areas of the country boosted tourist flow.

Foreign arrivals in key destinations also increased by 6% in the first half of the year despite a decrease of six percent in inbound visitors into East Asia and the Pacific.

Other most frequently visited destinations included Boracay (383,813); Davao City (330,247); Puerto Galera (215,755); and Ilocos Norte with 99,747 tourist arrivals.

Tsuneishi to hire 4,000 workers

By Ehda M. Dagooc (The Freeman) Updated August 08, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - While the FBMA Marine Inc., had decided to cease its operations due to weak demand, another Aboitiz partly owned shipbuilding firm Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu Inc., (THICI) is on the other hand, expanding its operations and will be hiring at least 4,000 workers.

THICI director Roberto Aboitiz said that after the P12 billion expansion project was recently completed, Tsuneishi will hire additional workers that would make the company employ a total of 9,000 manpower in the next three months.

Although its another shipbuilding firm, FBMA has been adversely affected by the global meltdown, Aboitiz said Cebu has shown that it can build high-quality vessels and Tsuneishi’s expansion is a testament to that.

Tsuneishi is one of the world’s leading medium-sized shipbuilders. Shipbuilding, ship repair and manufacturing of outfittings for ships and vessels constitute the main business of the company. Being diverse and multi-affiliated, THICI also engages in the engineering and fabrication services.

The P12 billion-expansion included the construction of a fourth slipway, which allows THICI to build Panamax bulk carrier cargo vessels to up to 190,000 tons.

In the next two years, the company also plans to increase its building capacity from 14 vessels a year to 22 with the new 900-meter dock in full operation.

According to Aboitiz, Tsuneishi continues to enjoy good demand from overseas market. In fact, the company is fully-booked for orders up to 2013 and more projects being pursued to fill up the work schedule.

Tsuneishi reported US$886.813 million worth of exports in 2008. It delivered its 97th vessel in July—the 58,000-deadweight tonnage Medi Segesta to Orient Line Co. Ltd. The P12-billion project was registered with the Board of Investments.

It is a joint venture between Japanese-owned Tsuneishi Holdings which holds 80-percent stake in the company, while Cebu-based Aboitiz & Co. Inc. owns the remaining 20 percent.

Tsuneishi, is the single largest employer in western Cebu. It maintain 6,065 contractual workers (most of who are welders), and 400 regular employees.

Recently, Aboitiz announced that FBMA, another partly-owned shipbuilding company of the Aboitiz Group, had to stop its operations due to the weak demand from the global market.

FBMA, which specializes in high-speed vessels and utility craft, had to let go of the remaining 100 workers as the global economic crisis caused companies to scrap fleet expansions.

Russian investments to pour in RP

By Ehda M. Dagooc (The Freeman) Updated August 08, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, specifically Cebu, can expect more investments from Russia starting this year, or so says Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation for the Philippines Armi Lopez Garcia during the first Philippine-Russia Business Forum held yesterday at the Cebu International Convention Center.

About 50 Russian investors and traders are in Cebu to explore trade and investment opportunities in the Philippines, following the creation of the Philippine-Russian Business Assembly Incorporated (PRBAI).

Garcia, who also sits as PRBAI president, said that the Philippines, specifically Cebu could expect more investments from Russia particularly in the fields of tourism, trade and investments.

The reason why the business forum was held back-to-back with the One Cebu Exhibition in order to provide the Russian delegates a glimpse of “Cebu’s Best”, Garcia said Russian businessmen are mostly interested in creational projects like hotels and resorts and other tourism related investments, trading, while some are interested in energy and mining.

For his part, Embassy of Russia charge d’affairs Sergey Shepilov said that the creation of the PRBAI is an important step for stronger trade relations between the two countries. The group, he said should act as a platform to promote each other, and to send a message to the respective governments in driving them to the right direction.

Shepilov urged the members of the PRBAI to be active in its advocacy in forging stronger trade relations, and business linkages, saying “you are an important part of the Russia and the Philippines bilateral relationships.”

Garcia said the group will focus on the “movement three” point which is to strengthen in the promotion of tourism, trade and investments between two countries.

PRBAI officials led by Garcia were inducted yesterday by Cebu Provincial Governor Gwen Garcia during the opening of the first Philippine-Russian Business Forum.

The PRBAI is an international organization that embodies the highest principles driving economic relations between citizens of the Republic of the Philippines and the Russian Federation.

According to Garcia, it represents the dynamic ties between both countries and aims to further strengthen regional economic cooperation, build strong networks of key businesspeople, policy makers, innovators and visionaries, align new ideas with policies, and work towards the formation of vital linkages that streamline the investment protocols in both countries.

Garcia hopes to present a resolution to the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the outcome of the one-day business forum.

According to Garcia, PRBAI is planning to make the Business Forum an annual event to sustain economic and trade relationship between the two countries.