High Court affirms Lapu-Lapu’s ownership of lot sold to MCIA

Local

THE Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed that Lapu-Lapu City is the legal owner of a contested donated lot in the city.

In a decision by the SC's First Division, promulgated on July 13, 2026, but published on the SC's website on July 30, the High Court denied Mactan-Cebu International Airport's (MCIA) petition challenging Lapu-Lapu City's ownership of Lot No. 4726-A, a property donated to the city in 1935.

The subject lot is also among the properties sold to MCIA, by the heirs of the original owners of the land.

MCIA, the petitioner, argued that the subject property was donated to the city with the condition that it must be used exclusively and permanently for school purposes.

Lapu-Lapuc City built Ibo Elementary School on the contested land, however, it was demolished in 1991 and was never rebuilt.

Thus, this made the donation "ineffective" due to the city's failure to comply with the condition of the donation, according to the petitioner.

Lapu-Lapu City responded that the donation is still valid and subsisting, pointing out that it continues to intend to use the property for educational purposes.

Although the school was transferred to another site, it was to accommodate the growing student population.

The case first went to the Regional Trial Court (RTC), which upheld Lapu-Lapu City's ownership of the property. It was then elevated to the Court of Appeals (CA), where the appellate court affirmed the RTC's ruling with modification.

The CA's ruling stated that the condition under the donation, which requires the property to be used exclusively for school purposes, remained effective despite the demolition and transfer of Ibo Elementary School to another site.

The CA explained that the transfer was necessary to accommodate the growing number of students and "did not constitute an abandonment of the property for educational purposes" and that there was "no breach substantial enough to justify the revocation of the donation."

The CA's decision prompted MCIA to file a petition for review on certiorari before the High Court.

However, the SC's decision still favored the Lapu-Lapu City Government, declaring the petition "unmeritorious" and denying the request to revoke the donation.

The court said the petitioner failed to establish a breach sufficient to warrant the revocation of the donation.

"To justify the revocation of a donation for breach of a condition, the noncompliance must be substantial and fundamental, not merely slight or casual, taking into account the purpose of the donation and the parties' intent," reads part of the SC's decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando and concurred in by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

The subject property was originally owned by spouses Marcos and Basilisa Seno. It was donated to the city in 1935 on the condition that it must be used exclusively and permanently for school purposes.

In 1958, some of the Seno heirs sold their entire property, including Lot No. 4726, to MCIA through an Extrajudicial Settlement and Sale.

Years passed and the heirs sought to recover the subject property, claiming that the sale to MCIA was void and that the donation had become ineffective due to the city's failure to comply with the condition under the donation.

Thus, they argued that ownership of the lot reverted to them.

MCIA agreed that the property should have reverted to the heirs. However, it asserted that it is the rightful owner of the lot by virtue of the Extrajudicial Settlement and Sale.(MyTVCebu)