FACTS:
The
Philippine Commission enacted Act No. 1306 which authorized the City of Manila
to reclaim a portion of Manila Bay. The reclaimed area was to form part of the Luneta
extension. The act provided that the reclaimed area shall be the property of
the City of Manila, and the city is authorized to set aside a tract of the
reclaimed land for a hotel site and to lease or to sell the same. Later, the
City of Manila conveyed a portion of the reclaimed area to Petitioner. Then
Petitioner sold the land, together with all the improvements, to the Tarlac
Development Corporation (TDC).
ISSUE:
W/N
the subject property was patrimonial property of the City of Manila.
HELD:
The
petitions were denied for lack of merit. The court found it necessary to
analyze all the provisions of Act No. 1360, as amended, in order to unravel the
legislative intent. The grant made by Act No. 1360 of the reclaimed land to the
City of Manila is a grant of a “public” nature. Such grants have always been
strictly construed against the grantee because it is a gratuitous donation of
public money or resources, which resulted in an unfair advantage to the
grantee. In the case at bar, the area reclaimed would be filled at the expense
of the Insular Government and without cost to the City of Manila. Hence, the
letter of the statute should be narrowed to exclude matters which, if included,
would defeat the policy of legislation.
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