Baguio council to DOJ, OSG: Review disputed land titles
BAGUIO CITY—The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been urged to intervene in long-standing issues involving unvalidated Baguio properties covered by the controversial “211 titles” in a bid to clean up the city’s land registry and resolve decades-old property disputes.
The call came through a series of resolutions unanimously approved by the city council on Monday.
The resolutions asked Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe and acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida to either legitimize or nullify questionable titles linked to Civil Registration Case No. 1, General Land Registration Office Record No. 211.
The 211 titles trace their origins to a land registration case opened to determine which portions of the Baguio Townsite Reservation could be privately registered under Act No. 496, the 1902 colonial-era land registration law, according to a report by former city administrator and Councilor Peter Fianza.
Fradulent expansions
Despite a 1922 court ruling and a 1973 Supreme Court decision voiding 211 properties that failed to undergo validation, many questionable titles remain in circulation and continue to be sold or transferred, including lands whose owners failed to perfect their claims despite several grace periods granted under decrees issued during the administration of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Fianza’s report also noted that some titles became subjects of fraudulent land expansions later voided by courts but still appearing in the registry of deeds. About 200 hectares of land in Baguio are reportedly covered by 211 titles.
One of the resolutions urged the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to initiate the cancellation of 211 titles no longer eligible for judicial or administrative remedies so the city government can assume jurisdiction over the affected lands.
Another resolution asked the DOJ to investigate anomalous 211 titles, while a third sought the deputation of a city-led task force to inventory and review 211 titles still listed in the local registry of deeds.
The council also requested City Planning, Development and Sustainability Officer Donna Tabangin to identify idle and recovered lands, including those covered by 211 titles, that may be used for socialized housing projects.
Councilor Jose Molintas likewise pushed for the consolidation of all pending and resolved court cases involving 211 titles.
Another resolution appealed to Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan to sponsor legislation transferring to the city government the remaining functions related to the validation of 211 titles, including the cancellation of titles denied validation by courts and the recovery of unvalidated lands through the OSG.
These powers are currently exercised by a national validation committee created under Presidential Decree No. 1271 in 1977, which voided 211 titles except those issued on or before July 31, 1973, and not located within government or protected reservations.
Baguio, established as a townsite during the American colonial period, has a unique land classification system in which lands are generally considered alienable and disposable through a townsite sales mechanism.
However, lands reserved for civic, environmental, or military purposes are exempt from townsite coverage.
In 1922, the Benguet Court of First Instance ruled that all lands and buildings within the townsite were public properties except those already adjudicated to private claimants or located within established reservations. The ruling also stated that all other private claims not pursued under the 211 case were “barred forever.”
But the same court reopened the case in the late 1960s and granted titles to claimants whose properties were later sold to other parties, further complicating Baguio’s real-estate landscape.
