THE Commission on Audit said it cannot make
an evaluation of the Boracay Mansion in New Manila, Quezon City
because available data on the property make it "unplottable."
In a memorandum to the Sandiganbayan,
Engineer Jose Damole, COA-Property Disposal Evaluation Research
Division chief, said the inaccurate descriptions on the Transfer
Certificate of Title are inaccurate prevent them from
ascertaining the property’s boundaries. And without a reliable
measurement of the lot area, government auditors said they
cannot determine the fair market price of the Boracay mansion.
Edgardo Urieta, chief of the Sandiganbayan
Sheriff and Security Services Office, asked COA to assess the
property in preparation for its disposal in a public auction
this year.
The P142 million property was ordered
forfeited for allegedly being ill-gotten wealth by the
Sandiganbayan Special Division as part of the guilty verdict on
the plunder case against deposed President Joseph Estrada last
Sept. 12.
Damole said an on-site inspection of the
property by his team found the mansion "totally damaged and
vandalized and not anymore livable." He said to determine the
mansion’s actual value, his team will look into three
subdivision plans drawn out on the titles being held by the
Quezon City government, St. Peter Holdings, and the old title on
record at the Land Registration Authority.
The Quezon City government is contesting the
state’s right to the property saying it has already transferred
the title to the city government’s name before the forfeiture
ruling was issued. The title transfer was based on St. Peter
Holdings’ failure to pay real estate taxes since 2001.
Prosecutors claim the holding firm was a dummy owner set-up
to conceal Estrada’s ownership of the property. – Peter
Tabingo
