SC: Taguig City owns Fort Bonifacio, BGC
THE Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that Taguig City is the owner of Fort Bonifacio, including the pricey Bonifacio Global City (BGC), ending a territorial row with neighboring Makati City.
This was after the SC 3rd division turned down the petition of Makati City questioning the 2017 ruling of the Court of Appeals that junked with finality its bid to get territorial jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario which was promulgated on December 1, 2021, the high court denied Makati’s petition as it reinstated the Pasig City regional trial court’s 2011 decision with modification as follows:
1. Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation, consisting of Parcels 3 and 4, Psu2013, is confirmed to be part of the territory of the City of Taguig
2. The Writ of Preliminary Injunction dated August 2, 1994 issued by the RTC of Pasig, explicitly referring to Parcels 3 and 4, Psu 2031, comprosing Fort Bonifacio, be made PERMANENT in so far as it enjoined the municipality, now City of Makati, from exercising jurisdiction over, making improvements on, or otherwise treating as part of its territory, Parcels 3 and 4, Psu2013, comprising Fort Bonifacio.
It also ordered the City of Makati to pay the costs of the suit.
Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Rosmari Carandang, Rodil Zalameda and Jose Midas Marquez have concurred in Justice Rosario’s ponencia.
Records showed that the Pasig RTC ruled in favor of Taguig over the disputed parcels of land, prompting Makati to elevate the dispute with the appellate court.
But the special former Sixth Division of the CA junked with finality the bid of Makati City to get territorial jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio.
The CA affirmed its decision dismissing Makati’s motion for reconsideration on the ground of forum shopping.
It rejected the Makati government’s plea for liberal interpretation and application of the rules on forum shopping.
Makati brought the territorial row to the high court arguing that the Enlisted Man’s Barangay (EMB) and Fort Bonifacio, formerly known as Fort William McKinley, were within its territory and jurisdiction.
