Press club has right to sell Manansala mural — CA

The media group National Press Club (NPC) has scored anew in its legal war against the state-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) regarding the ownership of the Vicente Manansala mural. This was after the Court of Appeals, in a 20-page decision, upheld the NPC’s right to sell the mural to a private gallery in 2007. The NPC, through the leadership of its then-president Roy Mabasa, sold the mural to the Heritage Art Gallery for P10 million. In the decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, the CA’s Seventh Division said the Pasay City Regional Trial Court did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it ruled in favor of the NPC in 2009. Both the CA and the Pasay court said that since the NPC is the true owner of the mural, it had the right to sell it. “Being the owner of the mural, NPC has all the rights to dispose of the same in whatever manner it desires. NPC cannot be made liable, in any way, in exercising what is merely a propriety act," the CA ruled. The appellate court, however, did not resolve the issue of ownership of the NPC building from where the painting was taken. The GSIS is claiming ownership of the mural, saying it is an immovable part of the NPC building, which it owns by virtue of TCT No. 265236. The NPC, on the other hand, insisted on its right over the property through Letter of Instructions No. 500 issued in 1977 by then-President Ferdinand Marcos. The letter directed GSIS to donate the mural to the NPC. The Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 112, in a decision on July 16, 2009, sided with NPC by not only granting it ownership of the mural but also directing GSIS to donate the building to the organization. This prompted GSIS to elevate the case before the CA. Before that, the GSIS even went as far as filing criminal charges against Mabasa and 13 other NPC officers for qualified theft. The Department of Justice, however, dismissed the charges in view of the findings of the Pasay court that the NPC is the real owner of the Manansala painting. In affirming the Pasay court’s ruling, the CA agreed with NPC’s arguments that the mural was a movable object not intended to be part of the wall of the building, and that its theme “Freedom of the Press" shows its connection to the organization. “It is without doubt that the mural is a movable property – a personal property which can be taken by NPC whether or not it owns the building," the CA said. The appellate court also pointed out the admission of GSIS that the mural was a personal property donated to the NPC when it sought recovery of personal property and damages by filing a writ of replevin, a legal remedy for a person to recover goods unlawfully withheld from his or her possession by court order. Concurring with the CA ruling were Associate Justices Amelita Tolentino and Normandie Pizarro. — KBK, GMA News