THE VILLAR EMPIRE Dream homes on farmlands

Codes: N11

Author: Jerry Esplanada

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

Date Published: 7/24/98

Starting Page: 1

IN ADDITION to 450 hectares of prime land near the

Ninoy Aquino International Airport, real estate tycoon

and Las Piñas Rep. Manuel Villar has acquired some

5,500 hectares (equivalent to 55 million square meters) in mostly

agricultural lands in various parts of the country.

The Villar flagship Camella & Palmera Homes Inc. and its

affiliate firms have been developing the landholdings into

housing projects marketed as ''Dream Homes in a total California

setting,'' ''Slice of Europe,'' ''Queen City's crown jewel,'' and

country homes with the ''Charm of the Caribbean,'' among other

come-ons.

Documents obtained by the Inquirer, however, revealed that the

conversion of many Villar landholdings from agricultural to

residential use was made without the required clearance from

the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Villar, the wealthiest member of the House of Representatives

(with assets of $2 billion in 1996, according to Forbes magazine)

has, at this writing, yet to respond to this paper's request for an

interview.

Premature or illegal conversion is a criminal act as mandated

under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law and the

Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act.

Administrative sanctions are also spelled out in DAR

Administrative Order No. 7 (Series of 1997) which states that

petitions for conversion covering lands which have been

prematurely converted shall be disapproved and the subject

lands automatically placed under CARP coverage.

On many occasions, C & P Homes insiders said, Villar

companies disregarded laws on land conversion and outrightly

converted acquired landholdings into subdivision projects.

''Armed with the respective municipalities' preliminary approval

for locational clearance (PALC), the municipal council's

development permit (DP), mayor's permit, and the environmental

clearance certificate from the Department of Environment and

Natural Resources, we simply went ahead developing the

properties into existing housing projects,'' a source close to

Villar confided to the Inquirer.

Disregarding DAR clearance

C & P Homes insiders insisted ''there's no need to secure a DAR

clearance because we already have substantial compliance

(with the other requirements). All we do is strengthen

secondary documentation, not the primary one which is the

DAR clearance.''

Land reclassification is the function of local government units

but a developer must have a conversion clearance if it is done

after the enactment of CARP (on June 15, 1988).

Another source close to Villar admitted that in DAR surveys

''(Villar landholdings) were in fact agricultural at the time the

CARP law was enacted'' and that ''in real property tax

declarations filed prior to June 15, 1988 by the original

landowners, the Villar housing projects were previously

declared as agricultural.''

The same source also said that as early as 1996 ''nag-scenario

thinking na kami, how we would meet the challenge if someone

comes knocking at our door and ask for DAR permits. Pera

lang ang katapat niyan.''

Going around the law

''We made it a point to complete the documentations, like the

waivers of farmers. Kung wala nang tenants, in effect wala na

ring complainants,'' the source added.

Another executive of a Villar firm said they had devised a

number of sophisticated schemes that ''allowed us to go around

the laws.''

One of them is by executing a deed of absolute sale (DAS) with

the original landowner but leaves blank the exact date of the

transaction. The document will neither be notarized nor

presented to the Register of Deeds for registration and issuance

of the land title.

Either the landowner or an attorney in fact (usually a Villar

lawyer or a senior company official) will file with DAR an

application for conversion of the particular land. Once the

conversion order is secured, the DAS is brought out, dated

accordingly and presented to the Register of Deeds for the

corresponding transfer certificate of title or TCT.

Or securing the ''cooperation'' of the municipal assessor,

municipal planning and development officer and the town's

register of deeds in changing the description of the agricultural

property and declare it instead as residential, commercial or

industrial, and pay the corresponding real property tax.

In the Visayas and Mindanao where C & P Homes Inc. is called

Communities Philippines Inc., the Villar real estate empire is

slowly flexing its muscle with several housing projects.

'On safe side'

Interviewed at the company's regional office in Cebu City,

lawyer Pamela Gako, CPI marketing manager, declared that ''as

much as possible, we go through the process.''

Asked if their development projects had land conversion

permits from DAR, Gako said the Villar firms ''try to comply with

government requirements.''

''Generally speaking, we try to be on the safe side,'' Gako told

the Inquirer. Whatever that means.

She pointed out that some of their projects were ''located within

zones classified as residential by local government units.'' She

did not elaborate.

Sources in the Chamber of Real Estate & Builders Association

in Cebu claimed the Villar group was developing more than 100

hectares of prime agricultural lands in the outskirts of the city.

Gako neither confirmed nor denied the disclosure. Instead, she

said ''some areas which are located near existing projects are

under study.'' She declined to comment further.

Without referring to the Villar firms, Elmo Bañares, DAR

Director for Central Visayas, explained that premature

conversion is against the law because ''it diminishes the mass of

agricultural lands which can be distributed to qualified agrarian

reform beneficiaries.''

''They are called agricultural lands simply because they are

intended for agriculture. It is DAR, not LGUs, which has

exclusive jurisdiction over what lands can be or cannot be

converted into non-agricultural uses,'' Bañares emphasized.

Before his transfer to Cebu, Bañares had denied a Villar

application for conversion involving an 11.6-hectare agricultural

property in Barangay Abilay Norte, Oton, Iloilo.

In land conversion applications, developers are usually

represented by former owners of the subject lands. In this

particular case, the Villar firm Camella Homes was represented

by landowners Apolonio Gallantes, Domiciano Gampay, Jesus

Casuela, Panfilo Guelos, and Juanito Embecido.

Bañares said he disapproved the application ''because the

(seven) parcels of land were irrigated lands. They were

supposed to be non-negotiable. We stuck to our findings

which included the existence of an overflowing irrigation canal

in the area.''

Reversal

To DAR-Region 6 staff's surprise, the National Irrigation

Authority issued a certification saying the subject landholdings

were ''not irrigated lands within the areas programmed for

development under the NIA Irrigation Development Program.''

The NIA ruling, among other reasons, prompted the DAR

central office to reverse the regional office's decision. ''Of

course, we know better than that. We're not born yesterday,''

said a DAR staff member.

On April 16, 1998, DAR-Region 6 disapproved another

application for land conversion by a group of Oton, Iloilo,

landowners, again representing the Villar group of companies.

In a two-page decision, a copy of which was obtained by this

reporter at the DAR central office in Quezon City, regional

director Dominador Andres said: ''The regional Center for Land

Use, Planning and Policy Implementation investigating team

and executive committee recommended that the conversion (of

30.2 hectares in agricultural lands) to residential use be denied

pursuant to AO No. 20, which states that irrigated or irrigable

lands are non-negotiable for conversion.''

Interviewed in Jaro, Iloilo, Andres asserted ''there is no way for

the DAR regional office to recommend for its approval. We're

talking here of irrigated land which is non-negotiable. We've

done our part. Trabaho lang ito, walang personalan.''

At the DAR headquarters, Prof. Jose Domingo, outgoing

director of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council, said

checking if the Villar firms (or any other land developer for that

matter) had secured DAR permits for their housing projects was

not an easy task.

''In the first place, there has never really been a meticulous act

on the part of the department to look at all into communities

where land conversions were made,'' Domingo admitted.

Villar empire

At least 50 of the ongoing housing projects of the Villar group,

covering some 16.6 million square meters, are in the provinces

of Bulacan and Cavite, the same documents disclosed. The

landholdings are covered by 1,217 titles.

Land conversion projects in Bulacan, with an area of 10,264,715

sq.m., are classified by C & P Homes Inc. as ''North'' projects.

The ''South'' projects, on the other hand, have a total land area

of 6,319,587 sq.m. Aside from Cavite, some of the landholdings

are located in Laguna and Batangas.

DAR officials call the three provinces the agency's ''(land

conversion) problem areas'' in the Southern Tagalog region, in

addition to Bulacan in Central Luzon.

The Villar firms have also acquired landholdings in Iloilo,

Bataan and Cebu, among other provinces.

In the municipality of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, alone, Villar

companies like Palmera Homes Inc. and Crown Asia have at

least 40 ongoing development projects covering a total land

area of 1,326,110 square meters.

They include Northridge Prime Estates, 287,352 sq.m.;

Northridge Heights 1-B, 24,933 sq.m.; Northridge Heights 1-C,

20,000 sq.m.; Northwinds City 1,126,203 sq.m.; Northwinds 2 (A

& B), 81,111 sq.m.; Northwinds 2-C, 11,420 sq.m.; Northwinds

3-A, 164,084 sq.m.; Northwinds 3-B, 105,880 sq.m.; Northwinds

4, 40,000 sq.m.; Northwinds 4-C, 18,828 sq.m.; Northwinds 4-D,

7,555 sq.m.; Northwinds 4-E, 8,362 sq.m.; Northwinds 5, 24,731

sq.m.; Northwinds 6, 52,425 sq.m.; Northwinds 7, 101, 249 sq.m.;

and Northwinds 8-B, 15,342 sq.m.

Also being developed in San Jose del Monte are the following

housing projects: La Poblacion 152,054 sq.m.; La Poblacion 1-B,

20,623 sq.m; La Poblacion 1-C, 62,272 sq.m.; La Poblacion 1-D,

9,757 sq.m.; La Poblacion 2, 120,577 sq.m.; La Poblacion 3-B,

17,831 sq.m.; La Poblacion 3-C, 51,162 sq.m.; La Poblacion 3-D,

14,711 sq.m.; La Poblacion 3-E, 57,759 sq.m.; and La Poblacion

4,109,894 sq.m.

The same town is also the home of Carissa Homes projects like

Carissa 1-A, 59,534 sq.m.; Carissa 1-C, 22,278 sq.m.; Carissa

2-A, 163,084 sq.m.; Carissa 2-B, 81,180 sq.m.; Carissa 3-A,

60,866 sq.m.; Carissa 4-A, 103,092 sq.m.; Carissa 4-B, 40,736

sq.m.; Carissa 4-C, 5,000 sq.m.; Carissa 5-D, 12,400 sq.m.

In Malolos, also in Bulacan, Crown Asia is developing La

Ravena, covered by four land titles and with a total area of

619,895 sq.m.

In the municipality of Teresa, Rizal, Palmera Homes is

developing four subdivisions--Carissa Homes East 1,161,210

sq.m.; Carissa Homes East 1-B, 24,310 sq.m.; Windhills Point,

100,988 sq.m.; and Windhills Crest, 32,956 sq.m.

In Cavite, the projects include Springville, with an area of

736,000 sq.m.; Barcelona, 273,000 sq.m.; Bacoor, 401,700 sq.m.;

Sorrento, 121,800 sq.m.; and Noveleta, 57,000 sq.m.

In Laguna, there are seven new land conversion projects:

WH-Main, 136,000 sq.m.; WH-2, 40,000 sq.m.; WH-Annex,

31,400 sq.m.; Bermuda I, 85,000 sq.m.; Bermuda 254,100 sq.m.;

and Milan, 30,200 sq.m.

An unidentified Batangas housing project covers a lot area of

100,000 sq.m.

Other projects

l San Jose del Monte, Bulacan--Carissa North.

l Pandi, Bulacan--Willowbend and Woodbridge.

l Antipolo, Rizal--Woodrow Hills, Maia Alta, Hills of Maia Alta,

Gardens of Maia Alta, Cottonwood Heights, and Glen Oaks.

l Quezon City--Granwood Villas and La Brea.

l Kalookan City--Whispering Palms, Tierra Nova Royale 3 and

Residenza.

l Novaliches--Tierra Nova.

l Imus, Cavite--Citta Italia and Nueva Imus.

l Dasmariñas, Cavite--La Mediterranea.

l Bacoor, Cavite--Springville Heights.

l San Pedro, Laguna--The Trails of La Marea, Bermuda and

Milan.

l Lipa City, Batangas--Plantacion Meridienne.

l Noveleta, Cavite; Orani, Bataan; and Oton, Iloilo--(Still

unnamed)

l Lapu Lapu City, Cebu--Camella Homes Cebu, Vista Bella,

Vista Bella Executives and Villa Marina.

l Talisay, Cebu City--Tierra Grande Estates.

l Talamban, Cebu City--Miramonte and Bellefonte.

l Ormoc City, Leyte--La Pradera.

l Cagayan de Oro City--Camella Homes, La Buena de Vida and

Frontiera.

l Talomo, Davao City--Solariega.