THE CNMI Supreme Court has dismissed John Pangelinan’s appeal in a lawsuit involving a property dispute and affirmed that he has no standing in his claims.
The justices also denied Pangelinan’s motion for substantive relief.
Pangelinan appealed the ruling of Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on May 21, 2020 that found him committing the tort of abuse of process in the estate of Norberto Pangelinan.
Secundina and Selina Pangelinan sued John 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. 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. However, 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.
Judge Camacho in his ruling found that based on the testimonies and exhibits there was nothing in John Pangelinan’s relationship with the plaintiffs that justified his interference.
Judge Camacho said John Pangelinan “intentionally” and “improperly” interfered with the performance of the contracts between the plaintiffs and Norberto’s estate with their dealings with Peak Development, which caused the plaintiffs’ performance of the contracts to be more expensive and burdensome.
The judge also found John Pangelinan liable to pay the plaintiffs for the pecuniary loss that the mother and daughter experienced as a result of his interference.
Secundina and Selina Pangelinan, through attorney Janet King, want John Pangelinan to pay them $7.61 million in damages.
King also requested the court to issue an order holding John Pangelinan liable to pay the 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 in punitive damages.
Moreover, Secundina and Selina Pangelinan asked the trial court to hold John Pangelinan liable to pay them $3.8 million for tortious interference claim.
In their decision on Feb. 25, 2021, Chief Justice Alexandro Castro, Justice John Manglona and Justice Perry Inos noted that the plaintiffs’ “motion has not yet been ruled upon because John Pangelinan’s notice of appeal from the judgement divested the trial court of jurisdiction.”
According to the justices, John Pangelinan “may contest their figures, and the plaintiffs may be required to provide evidence demonstrating their emotional distress to support such an award.”
However, 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 is granted. Since we lack jurisdiction over the appeal, we cannot decide John Pangelinan’s motion on the merits.”
The high court previously affirmed that the disputed land belongs to Secundina Untalan Pangelinan and daughter Selina Marie Pangelinan.
The justices likewise 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.
