JOHN Sablan Pangelinan has asked the CNMI Superior Court to dismiss the $7.6 million damages claims against him for interference in a Tanapag property probate.
Pangelinan said plaintiffs’ “procrastination in getting their June 22, 2020 motion heard is evidence demonstrating their [lack] of emotional distress” and is “undeserving of any award.”
“In other words, anybody with a $7,614,492.65 emotional distress damages claim would be in whiff to round up all evidence and wind down the claims to a lightning conclusion,” Pangelinan said.
But in plaintiffs’ case, he said, “it is a dud and is nothing more than a huff and puff and beating of the chest with no remedying action.”
Pangelinan asked the court to have all pending motions in the case be heard, and to dismiss or deny plaintiffs’ motion for damages.
The case stemmed from the lawsuit filed by Secundina and Selina Pangelinan against John S. Pangelinan for abusing the legal system to extort money from them by interfering in a probate matter despite not being a creditor.
According to the complaint, Norberto Pangelinan, Secundina’s husband, passed away in August 2015. Norberto owned three parcels of land in Tanapag, but before he died, Norberto entered into an agreement to lease the property to Peak Development LLC for 55 years for a total rent of $3.2 million.
Norberto also entered into an agreement to sell his reversionary interest in the Tanapag property to Pedro Kileleman, but before the transactions could close Norberto passed away.
Secundina Pangelinan initiated a probate for the estate of Norberto so that the lease and sale transaction could be properly completed. During the probate, Norberto’s cousin, John Pangelinan, challenged Norberto’s title to the Tanapag property without any evidentiary or legal support, plaintiffs said.
On May 21, 2020, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho found that John Pangelinan committed the tort of abuse of process in the estate of Norberto Pangelinan.
The judge also found John Pangelinan liable to pay plaintiffs for the pecuniary loss that the mother and daughter experienced as a result of his interference.
The judge then ordered Secundina and Selina Pangelinan to file their request for damages and/or other remedies against John Pangelinan.
Secundina and Selina Pangelinan, through attorney Janet King, filed a motion for damages, cost of litigation and attorney’s fees.
They want John Pangelinan to pay them $7.61 million in damages for interfering with the probate of a $3.2 million estate belonging to Secundina’s deceased husband.
King also requested the court to issue an order holding John Pangelinan liable to pay plaintiffs $90,281.92 for attorney’s fees and costs; $256,446.85 for damages in the form of investment interest; $798,580.97 for emotional distress, and $2,661,936.58 for punitive damages.
In addition, Secundina and Selina Pangelinan want the court to hold John Pangelinan liable to pay them $3.8 million for tortious interference.
John Pangelinan appealed the ruling of Judge Camacho, but the CNMI Supreme Court dismissed John Pangelinan’s appeal and also denied his motion for substantive relief.
According to Chief Justice Alexandro Castro, Justice John Manglona and Justice Perry Inos, “determination of damages will require a substantive, contested hearing….”
The justices said John Pangelinan may contest the figures, and “plaintiffs may be required to provide evidence demonstrating their emotional distress to support such an award. Because determination of damages will not be mechanical and uncontroversial, the judgment is not final and not immediately appealable.”
“We therefore lack jurisdiction and the motion to dismiss [the appeal] is granted. Since we lack jurisdiction over the appeal, we cannot decide John Pangelinan’s motion on the merits,” the justices said.
In John Pangelinan’s other appeal, the high court previously ruled that the disputed land belongs to Secundina Untalan Pangelinan and daughter Selina Marie Pangelinan.
The justice affirmed the ruling of Judge Camacho that John Pangelinan has no standing in his claims regarding the Tanapag Property and that he is not an heir of the decedent.
