Some enterprising lawyer should get the names of all the local farmers who are apparently unwittingly acting as dummies and file for Affidavit of Loss then try to sell these lands as fast as possible and just migrate.<\/p>\n
\nHe, too, was a dummy
\nIt turned out that he had been one of them, he said.
\nMercado said he remembered Binay directing him to go to President Jose P. Laurel Bank in Batangas to sign the deed of sale for the property. An original certificate of title was later issued in Mercado\u2019s name.
\nBut while his name was used, he said, it was not he who paid for the property and, for that matter, he was also not the one paying taxes for it. The tax payments are up to date, he said.
\n\u201cI did not pay for that. They did. They just asked me to go there to sign [the documents],\u201d he said, as he resumed his testimony into the alleged irregularities in Makati City.
\nHe said he had not signed any document authorizing Gregorio to sell the land to Tiu.
\nMercado also said that as shown by the documents, he is still the owner of the 4.2- hectare property that is supposed to be part of the Sunchamp estate.
\n\u201cUp to now, that\u2019s mine because it has not yet been transferred,\u201d he said.
\nEven if the original title is not with him, he can file an affidavit of loss and get a new copy of the title, he said.
\nMercado also showed copies of tax declarations in the name of Anna Marie Gregorio for 5,000 square meters of the so-called hacienda.
\nNo DAR clearance
\nHe alleged that the property was sold to Gregorio by an agrarian reform beneficiary, but without a clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
\nCayetano said the implication of Mercado\u2019s testimony was that Tiu\u2019s investors had been duped. Tiu said he had paid P11 million for the P440 million transaction and had spent P50 million for improvements on the property.
\nvia Who\u2019s footing \u2018Binay\u2019 farm\u2019s bills? | Inquirer News<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some enterprising lawyer should get the names of all the local farmers who are apparently unwittingly acting as dummies and file for Affidavit of Loss then try to sell these lands as fast as possible and just migrate. He, too, was a dummy It turned out that he had been one of them, he … <\/p>\n