Court cancels adverse claim vs new resort in Panglao Is.

A regional trial court has removed one more obstacle that hounded a new resort in Panglao owned by the Lims of Lite Shipping fame.

Presiding Judge Fernando Fuentes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 49 cancelled Entry No. 160735 relative to the adverse claim of respondent Privado Jiminez as annotated on Transfer Certificate of Title No.32918. Jiminez, according to the Lims is a dummy of Norris Oculam, whose business partner Manolo Cantos previously owned some of the lots where the new resort now stands. The new resort when finished is named Eskaya Beach Resort and Spa.

The adverse claim, however, was not the only problem that bothered the Lims' construction of a resort in Panglao. Another lot located at the back of the resort was also questioned by Oculam because he possesses a dead of assignment from his business partner-- Cantos. With the cancellation, the court directed the Register of Deeds of the Province of Bohol to cancel the entry number of the adverse claim.

In filing the petition for the cancellation of the adverse claim, the Lims legal counsel lawyer Alexander Lim argued that petitioner Artemis Salt Corp. represented by one Nilo Casoy is the registered owner of a parcel of land with an area of 16,351 sq. meters in barangay Tawala, Panglao. On September 22, 2005 , Jiminez who is one of the respondents of this civil case and who had been declared in default, caused the registration and annotation of an adverse claim on the title of petitioner based on a contract to buy and sell one-half portion of said lot executed in his favor by one Tomas Bongo.

According to the petition, the cancellation of the adverse claim was sought because the claim of Jiminez has no legal basis whatsoever for the following grounds, to wit: (1) That the contract to buy and sell was only between Bongo and respondent Jiminez affecting the one-half portion of said parcel of land; (2) That if ever respondent Jiminez has any legal right on the one half portion of said parcel of land, now titled and transferred to Artemis Salt Corp., then he (Jiminez) should have filed a case against Bongo and (3)the contract to buy and sell was not registered hence, it is binding only between the parties to the said document and not against the whole world.

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