BAGUIO CITY — Members of the Presidential Decree (PD) 1271 validation committee chaired by former Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez have petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to reverse a Court of Appeals (CA) ruling which declared as legal expanded land titles in various barangays in this mountain resort city.

The lands covered by the expanded titles are being claimed by Prime Peak Properties.

Joining Gonzalez in filing the petition were ormer Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera, now justice secretary, and Benedicto Ulep, administrator of the Land Registration Authority (LRA).

The validation committee reiterated its position that the titles issued to Gloria Rodriguez de Guzman of Prime Peak through a survey plan were null and void because these were not properly registered and titled.

In its March 26, 2009 decision, the CA approved De Guzman’s application for validation of titles covering more than 50 hectares of land in Barangays Dontogan and Sto. Tomas Apugan.

The petitioners claimed the CA ruling that a Regional Trial Court’s decision on a land registration case affecting De Guzman’s titles cannot be applied to the case.

Furthermore, the validation committee argued there was no conclusiveness of judgment because there was no identity of issues in the land registration case.

In its petition for review filed with the SC, the committee stated that De Guzman made false statements in her application for validation of titles. This is a violation of the rules implementing PD 1271 and is a valid ground for denial of validation.