Thursday, April 28, 2016

DEAR SENATOR ADA...I SUSPECT YOU KNOW IT

Dear Senator Tom Ada,

Thank you for your courage and for letting us know on which side of the line you stand. And you are right, this "HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH!" 

In fact, it could have ended a couple weeks ago. Had the errant certificates of title for the subject property been corrected as prescribed by law, not only would have the certificates been corrected, but the truth about the ownership of the property would have been settled and there would have been no need to divert scarce public safety resources to protect the Archbishop from retired septuagenarians. 

In fact, Senator Ada, had the certificates of title been permitted to be corrected as prescribed by law, and as also originally prescribed both by the Director of Land Management's legal counsel and even the Attorney General herself,  the REAL reason the property was secretly deeded to RMS in 2011 by Archbishop Apuron would have come to light.  This is why the "trained lawyer" fought so hard to keep it out of court, a task she succeeded in doing with the help of the Attorney General herself. But we'll get to that later. 

The bottom line is this. The Director of Land Management did NOT have to submit to the AG's counsel since - and here it is - the AG's "counsel" was ONLY counsel and NOT a ruling. Apparently the AG, who was a former judge, forgot she was no longer a judge and RULED rather than OPINED, causing the Director to respond more like a defendant than a client, which is what he was and is. 

The Director was NOT bound by the AG's "opinion." He was completely free to pursue the correction of the errant certificates of title as the law prescribed and as already mentioned, even as AG Barrett-Anderson herself originally prescribed. 

As we now know, the Director handed his authority over to his legal counsel to "work something out" with the Archbishop's legal counsel. However, sadly for the director, it is not the legal counsel whose name is on this sham, but the Director's. 

I will not presume to guess at the Director's motivations in handing off the correction of the certificates of title  over to his counsel, but his doing so brings all that occurred into the orbit of your legislative oversight and we look forward to the inquiry you appear to have committed to have. 

In order to assist you I am providing the following review:

Nov 29, 2015 - A copy of a certificate of title for one of the parcels of the subject property is published in the Umatuna, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Agana. Said certificate is missing the entry of an Instrument in the memorials section of the certificate. The Instrument is the Declaration of Deed Restriction recorded at the Department of Land Management by Archbishop Apuron on Nov. 22, 2011. 

Dec 15, 2015 - Copies of Certificates of Title for each of the four parcels which make up the subject property are sent from Andrew D. Santos, Deputy Registrar of Titles to Attorney Jacqueline T. Terlaje. The copies of the certificates were amended by Mr. Santos and amended by hand to include the previously missing Instrument, the Declaration of Deed Restriction. The memorial entry for Declaration showed that the effect of the Instrument was "in favor of" Archbishop of Agana, A Corporation Sole, Anthony S. Apuron, Incumbent.

At this point, the Certificates of Title are not just missing a memorial, they are in ERROR, and it is only thanks to Bob Klitzkie that the error became known. Apparently Attorney Jacqueline T. Terlaje, who had copies of the errant certificates in her possession since December 15, either did not know the certificates were in error, or she did know and chose to do nothing about it, which is exactly what she did...NOTHING. At least "nothing" until Mr. Klitzkie brought it to the Director's attention later that month. 

Jan 06, 2016 - The Director's legal counsel, Kristan Finney, Asst. AG, writes Borja notifying him that the only way to correct the errant certificate is to "petition the court." 

Jan 20, 2016 - The Director writes Klitzkie advising that per the AG's counsel he has "prepared and forwarded a petition...to the Office of the Attorney General...for the petition to be filed in the court to correct the certificates." 

After the Director's seeming willingness to do the right thing the right way, he suddenly lapsed into a mysterious phase of "it's out of my hands." Mr. Klitzkie decided to get to the bottom of the Director's sudden lapse and at the bottom of "it's out of my hands" he found it in "the hands" of one Attorney Jacqueline T. Terlaje, who in addition to being a "trained lawyer" (her words) as well as the on again off again legal counsel for the Archbishop of Agana, Ms.Terlaje is a neocat heavyweight and the "Responsible" (aka "head honcho") for Apuron's neocat "community" (aka "cabal"). 

Senator Ada, a quick and easy purview of the law regarding land titles will easily show that there is NO provision in the law for simply canceling an errant certificate of title and issuing a new one. Yet, this is exactly what the Director of Land Management did. It does not matter that this is what his legal counsel "worked out" with Attorney Jacqueline T. Terlaje. It was his duty as the Director of Land Management to see to it that the errant certificates were corrected as prescribed by law. And, as mentioned, this prescription was originally prescribed by both the Director's legal counsel and the AG herself. 

Mar 15, 2016 - The Director stamps CANCELED on the incorrect certificates and issues new certificates showing the Declaration of Deed Restriction as "in favor of" Redemptoris Mater Seminary. However, the Director ignores the effect of the Deed Restriction which conveyed title in fee simple to RMS and leaves the Archbishop of Agana as the owner. 

The fact that the Director chose to bypass Guam law and permit an alternative deal to be worked out directly with the party most interested in hiding the truth about the true ownership of the property, not only permitted the intent to hide the truth about the property to continue, but more generally draws into question the integrity of land titles,  and, most particularly, the issuance and correction of errant certificates of title, all of which places the matter squarely within your legislative oversight. 

You are right Senator Ada. This has gone on long enough. And the perpetrators are desperate to keep it going longer. There's a very terrible reason why, Senator Ada, and given your support for a 2011 bill lifting the statute of limitation on past sex crimes, I suspect you know it. 




3 comments:

  1. If Senator Tom Ada goes through with his previously announced intention to hold an informational hearing about the practices of Dept of Land Management, he's got my vote next election. And I'll tell my friends and family to also vote for him. But, if he doesn't, then we will know he was just taking advantage of a photo opportunity, like most all-talk no-action
    politicians . And I'll tell my friends and family to NOT vote for him next election.

    Senator Tom Ada, how long ago was it when you announced that you were going to hold that hearing? And, when are you actually going to hold it?

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  2. Not a word to add to this narrative, Senator Ada. I essentially said the same in my April 23,2016 op-ed in the PDN - and it was why I ended it with "... 'fixing' a defective CT administratively is not an option in the law. [At least you are now getting the documents first hand.] The drama continues... and we're looking forward to Senator Ada’s hearing findings..." I wish you the best in your honest effort to try to bring some closure to this far-too-dragged-out issue as regards not just this piece of church property, but as it may affect other citizens who might have been harmed in a similar fashion. (jrsa: 4/28/16)

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  3. veryone,
    Please join me in contacting Sen Ada via your preferred medium (I sent an email) asking him to set a date to hold that informational hearing. His email address is office@senatorada.org
    Mary Perez Espinoza

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