CA: No need for writ of execution to enforce ruling on Makati-Taguig land dispute

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The Court of Appeals says the orders issued on the dispute between Taguig City and Makati City over Fort Bonifacio and EMBO barangays are 'amply supported by legal and factual bases'

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals has ruled that a writ of execution or additional guidelines are unnecessary to enforce a 2022 ruling issued by the Supreme Court which declared that Fort Bonifacio — including Enlisted Men’s Barrios (EMBO) barangays — falls under the jurisdiction of Taguig City and not Makati.

The appellate court’s Third Division dismissed a petition filed by the local government of Makati that sought to reverse orders by Taguig City’s Regional Trial Court Branch 153, which denied its motion to clarify the proper and orderly implementation of the SC decision.

These were released in December 2023 and February 2024. 

The 19-page ruling, issued on May 28, was penned by Associate Justice Jaime Fortunato Caringal.

The Makati City LGU argued in its latest petition that a writ of execution is needed so that the High Court’s decision could be implemented in an orderly manner, adding that there was no explicit order that the part of the decision is for immediate execution.

The CA, however, held that “neither this court nor the trial has authority to interpret, modify, alter, or add to the final executory decision” of the SC, saying that the trial court did not commit any grave abuse of discretion in junking Makati’s motion. 

The orders, it said, “are amply supported by legal and factual bases.” 

The case traces back to a Supreme Court decision that definitively settled a decades-long territorial dispute between Taguig and Makati. The SC ruled that the EMBO barangays are within Taguig’s jurisdiction. The aftermath, however, has been marked by a chaotic transition, including a tug-of-war over properties and social services.  – Rappler.com