This is how things appear to be in the lawsuit filed by the Cresencio P. Manglona estate against the Department of Public Lands.
According to estate legal counsel, Timothy H. Bellas, the settlement talks between DPL and the estate have broken down.
As a result, the government may have to pay $10,000 in accrued interest for each day that the case remains unsettled.
Administered by Carmen Iglesias Lizama, the estate sued the government and asked the Superior Court to declare that estate is the rightful owner of a 36,000-square meter property, the largest portion of which is occupied by Northern Marianas College on Rota.
In December last year, DPL offered a land exchange deal but the estate turned it down and preferred a monetary compensation based on the 1991 appraisal value plus 6 percent interest.
Records show that the land taking occurred in 1991.
At that time, the CNMI was experiencing an economic boom which gave the property a fair market value of over $300 per square meter, the estate said.
Eighteen years have passed, the property is still being occupied by NMC, and the Manglona estate is still seeking justice.
A jury trial was scheduled for Nov. 9.
Bellas said that during the status conference last April 1
Assistant Attorney General Braddock Huesman apologized for telling him on more than one occasion that DPL was getting an appraisal, which the government lawyer later learned did not actually happen.
This is also the reason that Bellas and the estate reacted to DPL Secretary John Del Rosario’s statement in an interview last week that the offer was based on the appraisal of the property.
Del Rosario did not want to further speak about the case, saying it is already in court.
Bellas said despite the estate’s urging, no appraisal of property has been done by DPL in connection with the case
He pointed out that regardless of how the case ends, it is in the interests of both parties to have an appraisal of the property taken so that any settlement will be based on realistic figures.
“This is not only in the interest of my client, but in the interest of DPL. Neither side would know whether any amount of land or money that was offered in compensation for the taking of the estate’s property was an appropriate amount,” he said.
