Supreme Court orders Dakak Resort to vacate Dapitan property

The Supreme Court has instructed Dakak Beach Resort Corporation and Romeo Jalosjos to vacate a property in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte. They have been leasing this land for 20 years but have been found guilty of fraud and bad faith. The ruling follows decisions from the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals. Both courts agreed that Dakak and Jalosjos must return the property and all structures built on it to the rightful owner, Violeta Saguin de Luzuriaga. The court also ruled that they must pay for unpaid rent and damages. Initially, Dakak and Luzuriaga had a ten-year lease agreement that stated any permanent structures would belong to her after the lease expired. When Luzuriaga believed the lease had ended after five years, she refused further payments and asked Dakak to leave. Dakak continued to occupy the land without paying rent. Luzuriaga later sold the property to her daughter, Pilar L. Mendezona, who also made requests for Dakak to vacate. Mendezona and her husband filed a complaint to recover the property and collect past due rent. Dakak and Jalosjos claimed they had rights to the property because of their investments and sought reimbursement for their built structures. However, the Supreme Court rejected their claims. The justices stated that Dakak had no rights to redeem the land or be reimbursed, as the lease clearly indicated that ownership of built structures transferred to the landowner at the end of the agreement. The court stated that Dakak and Jalosjos acted in bad faith by not paying rent and refusing to leave despite numerous demands. They were ordered to pay Mendezona for unpaid rentals, starting from 1992, along with additional damages of P500,000 for moral damages and P1 million for exemplary damages.