MY TESTAMENT

ON THE FABIANA AREJOLA MAUSOLEUMAND THE AREJOLA FAMILY

I am Antonio Prudente Arejola, the son of Antonio Arejola in his second marriage to Valeriana Prudente. I am 90 years old and a resident of Naga City.

Fabiana Arejola is the daughter of my father, Antonio Arejola, in his first marriage to Emeteria Padilla. She took on the role of Matriarch of the Arejola Family and the other families that arose from inter-marriage with the Arejolas. I addressed her simply as Manay Babing.

I have decided to narrate what I know, before I pass from this world, about the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum and the Arejola Family out of social duty to protect the family history from being distorted by self-serving heirs.

I do this with malice toward none, except only to set the records straight so that all the children of Fabiana Arejola's heirs, both good and bad, may be properly enlightened on the history of their forebears.

Josefa Alvarez Dabu, in an affidavit dated February 23, 2006, claims that her father, Dr. Jose Alvarez, built the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum per instructions of Manay Babing.

THIS IS TOTALLY UNTRUE.

Firstly, if it were true that Manay Babing gave this solemn task to Dr. Jose Alvarez, would she not have indicated such instructions in her Will where she explicitly gave specific instructions to be followed after her death?

The truth is, she never wished for a mausoleum to be built for her. She was, in spite of her great wealth and influence, a very humble person. In fact, her very simple instruction in her Will was that she be buried "under the rites and ceremonies, although without much pomp, of my religion..."

It was the collective decision by all the heirs, me included, to erect a mausoleum as a monument to honor her legacy and as a symbol of deep gratitude for her kindness and generosity.

Secondly, the money spent for the construction of the mausoleum did not come from the pocket of Dr. Jose Alvarez as what Josefa Alvarez Dabu would want people to believe by claiming that her father built the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum. The money came from the estate of Manay Babing.

I know this because the money came from the produce of the rice-land in Libmanan which I managed then for Manay Babing. I gave the money to Salvacion Arejola Imperial, Manay Babing's niece and trusted safe-keeper of her valuables. Salvacion informed the heirs about the money and, since it was a considerable amount, the heirs decided to utilize the money to erect a mausoleum in honor of Manay Babing.

When the decision to erect the mausoleum was confirmed by all the heirs, Salvacion summoned Federico Barcinas, the noted contractor at that time, to discuss the construction cost. He presented a picture of a mausoleum which he clipped from a magazine and we agreed to use it as the model for the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum. Salvacion paid Mr. Barcinas around P17,000.00 for the construction of the mausoleum.

It is, therefore, another false claim of Josefa Alvarez Dabu that it was her father, Dr. Jose Alvarez and my half-bother, Jorge Arejola, who contracted Mr. Barcinas for the construction of the mausoleum. How could they enter into a contract with Mr. Barcinas when it was Salvacion who controlled the money?

Josefa Alvarez Dabu further claims in the same affidavit that her father allegedly relayed the wishes of Manay Babing regarding the mausoleum to Arch. Pedro Santos, the Archbishop of Caceres then.

This is another baseless claim of Josefa Alvarez Dabu. Manay Babing never gave any special instructions to Dr. Jose Alvarez in her Will regarding a mausoleum. Furthermore, Dr. Jose Alvarez did not have a cordial relationship with Arch. Pedro Santos. This was due to Dr. Alvarez' open criticism on Arch. Pedro Santos for approving the marriage of my sister, Expectacion, to Dr. Lorenzo Ziga.

At that time, Dr. Jose Alvarez, including all his children, did not think that my sister, Expectacion, deserved to be married to a doctor. He harped upon the rumor that Dr. Lorenzo Ziga was already a married man and openly accused the Archbishop of complicity in approving the marriage of Expectacion to Dr. Lorenzo Ziga. This actuation of Dr. Jose Alvarez doomed any cordiality between him and the good Archbishop.

When Arch. Pedro Santos learned that the heirs of Manay Babing were going to beautify her tomb, it was me whom he told that the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum be built at the center of the Penafrancia Cemetery which could also serve as a chapel for blessing the dead that were to be buried in the cemetery. He told me this was his way of honoring and showing his gratitude to Manay Babing whom he respected so much for being his NINANG when he was consecrated as Archbishop of Caceres and for her many legacies to the Archdiocese.

Arch. Pedro Santos became close to me because I was always designated by Manay Babing to bring cattle to the Archbishop's Palace for slaughter during fiestas and special occasions.

JOSEFA ALVAREZ DABU OMITS MANY PERTINENT FACTS IN HER AFFIDAVIT.

For the maintenance of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum, the heirs agreed to set aside a 40-hectare abaca farm in Calabanga which was leased to Mr. Ciriaco Perez for P1,000.00 per year. At the start, Dr. Jose Alvarez took the task of mausoleum caretaker with the help of his daughter, Felisa Alvarez. After some years, however, no accounting whatsoever of the expenditures was submitted by Dr. Alvarez to the heirs.

I questioned this openly among the heirs. The Imperial Family agreed that for honesty and transparency in the upkeep of the mausoleum, proper accounting of actual expenditures had to be done. As a result, a meeting was held at the residence of Josefa Alvarez Dabu.

It was decided then that the three families --- Arejola, Imperial, Alvarez --- would each take a three-year turn as caretaker of the mausoleum and utilize the P1,000.00 annual lease rental of the abaca farm for the upkeep of the mausoleum during each family's tenure as caretaker. Upon my suggestion, it was agreed that the Imperial Family would be designated as the first caretaker family followed by the Arejola Family and then the Alvarez Family.

However, when the turn of the Imperial Family was about to end, Josefa Alvarez Dabu tried to influence Herminia Imperial Ursua, who represented the Imperial Family, to hand over the keys of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum to her because, according to Josefa Alvarez Dabu, she wanted her brother, Antonio Alvarez, to be the caretaker.

Herminia informed me that she objected to this strange request of Josefa Alvarez Dabu not only because it would violate the new agreement among the heirs that the Arejola Family would take over from the Imperial Family but more so because Antonio Alvarez was not an heir but was, in fact, disinherited by Manay Babing in her Will.

I agreed with Herminia's stand because I also believed that Antonio Alvarez, being disinherited by Manay Babing, had no moral integrity to take care of Manay Babing's Mausoleum. Josefa Alvarez Dabu's brother, Antonio Alvarez and another sibling, Socorro Alvarez, committed an unforgivable offense against Manay Babing that warranted her extreme prejudice against the two siblings of Josefa Alvarez Dabu as to disinherit them.

But it turned out that my half-brother, Jorge Arejola, also had plans of his own. Without informing any of the heirs, he went to Ciriaco Perez and demanded the lease rental for one year of the abaca farm. He even admonished Mr. Perez to tell anyone who would question his action that I was with him when he obtained the lease rental.

This act of my half-brother, Jorge Arejola, father of Judge Ramon Arejola, eroded whatever trust there was among the heirs. Soon after, the heirs started selling their shares in the abaca farm to Ciriaco Perez until it was totally owned by him.

With the abaca farm disposed of, interest in the designation as mausoleum caretaker waned among the Alvarez heirs. And without our knowledge, the tabernacle, purchased through the lease rental of the abaca farm at the time when Dr. Jose Alvarez was caretaker, was taken by him while Jorge Arejola took the big cross on top of the mausoleum altar.

Josefa Alvarez Dabu's claim that she continued participating in the upkeep of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum after her father died is also untrue. After the abaca farm was disposed of, only the Imperial Family, my sister Expectacion until she died and my family persisted in taking care of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum using our own personal funds. Later, my niece, Teresita Arejola Roa, though not an heir of Manay Babing since she traced her roots to my father's cousin, joined in the upkeep of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum.

When my wife and I left for Guam in 1986, I gave the keys of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum to Helen Arejola, much to the apprehension of Herminia. And she was proven right. Helen Arejola not only appropriated for herself the produce of the 42-hectare coconut land in Bantigue, San Fernando, Camarines Sur still undivided among the heirs purportedly for the upkeep of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum, but declared the entire area as part of the estate of her father, Luis Arejola. This was rectified by the court when Herminia initiated an inter-pleader, supported by my family, to exclude Bantigue from the

estate of Luis Arejola.

When Teresita Arejola Roa passed away in 1991, my son, Fr. Rodolfo G. Arejola, came home from Guam to officiate in the funeral rites. Upon learning of what Helen Arejola had done, he decided to take the keys of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum from her.

Since then, the Imperial Family and my family became the joint caretaker families of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum using our own funds for the upkeep of the mausoleum.

Before my wife and I came home from Guam, Josefa Alvarez Dabu, after she came home from the USA, asked to be the caretaker of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum. I actually felt happy that, at long last, a member of the Alvarez Family would take an active part in the care of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum. And so, I instructed my son, Jaime, to give the keys to her.

We came home from Guam in 2001. After some time, Josefa Alvarez Dabu gave back the keys to me saying she could no longer take care of the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum because of her advancing age.

It was during one of my visits with her that I discussed the plan to construct two burial tombs in the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum for the use of all heirs and their children who may pass away. She concurred with the idea given the changing times. I remember this conversation because it was during this visit that she told me she was missing some of their personal things like the walking canes of her husband, and confided that they were probably taken by her daughter-in-law when she was in the USA. She added that she would have given me a walking cane to aid in my walking if she could only find them. It was also during this visit that she complained about the way she was admonished by a priest at the San Francisco Church not to pray the rosary while hearing mass when she approached the altar to receive communion.

In that conversation, I clearly expressed that only the heirs and their children who have not violated Manay Babing's Will would be allowed to be interred in the tombs inside the Mausoleum.

I cited this condition to remind her of Manay Babing's explicit warning in her Will that anyone who violates her Will through land disputes will be disinherited. By operation of the Will, Felisa Alvarez, Ramon Arejola, Nelia Ziga and Helen Arejola violated Manay Babing's Will by usurping for themselves the Capilihan Estate which was bequeathed by Manay Babing to the Naga Cathedral Church. As violators of the Will, they are, therefore, barred from the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum. Because of what they did, their mere presence in the Mausoleum would desecrate the holy ground where Manay Babing is entombed. 

THE CAPILIHAN ESTATE:

The Capilihan Estate was a legacy by Manay Babing to the Naga Cathedral Church. Manay Babing's Will was explicit that the rest of her properties were to be partitioned among her heirs only after excluding her legacies to her legatees.

Since the Archbishop of Caceres had a claim to the Capilihan Estate by virtue of Manay Babing's bequeathal, no other heir could lay claim to it as stipulated in the Will. But Helen Arejola had the gall to declare it, without due notice to the other heirs, as part of the estate of her father, Luis Arejola. Then Felisa Alvarez, Ramon Arejola and Nelia Ziga also laid

claim on the property.

Although the court denied the exclusion of the property from the estate of Luis Arejola and ordered the cancellation of the Tax Declaration on the property in the name of the Archbishop of Caceres, the court, however, declared that it had "no jurisdiction in the final determination on the question of ownership since this question should be litigated in a separate action".

On June 13, 1993, an Amicable Settlement was declared by Arch. Leonardo Legaspi and the so-called claimant heirs premised on their self-serving declaration that all copies of Manay Babing's Will "had already been lost or destroyed". The parties to the amicable settlement probably thought they struck on an ingenious ploy to subvert Manay Babing's Will by claiming that there were no more copies of the Will that exist today so that there was confusion as to which property pertained to whom.

But, if no copy of Manay Babing's Will was ever brought out in open court, what documentary evidence did these co-called claimant heirs present to prove that they are, in fact, named heirs of Fabiana Arejola in the first place? And was the Amicable Settlement ever submitted to the court?

During all this time, Arch. Leonardo Legaspi never made any effort to contact any other living heirs of Manay Babing to find out if any copies of Manay Babing's Will still existed or even just to get their opinion on this action of the so-called claimant heirs.

Sometime in the latter part of 1993, Hermina asked my son, Jaime, to accompany her to Arch. Leonardo Legaspi to show him a true copy of the supposedly lost Will. In that meeting, Arch. Legaspi admitted feeling sick in his stomach as he realized and acknowledged his grave error in signing an amicable settlement without consulting the other living heirs. He then tried to show his innocence on the grave mistake by chastising Fr. Rodolfo Ragay, his Oeconomus then, for not verifying the facts regarding the Capilihan Estate from the other living heirs of Fabiana Arejola. He promised Herminia and Jaime that he would instruct his lawyer to reopen the case at soon as possible.

He did, however, ask Herminia and Jaime if they were interested in being part of the settlement deal. This offer was turned down. Instead, Herminia told Arch. Leonardo Legaspi that what was of prime importance was to protect the integrity of her Lola's Will and save the property of the Church from being usurped by the so-called claimant heirs.

Nothing happened with Arch. Leonardo Legaspi's promise to reopen the case.

In connection with the Capilihan Conspiracy, I am sharing three letters that deal with the controversy. All who claim to be heirs of Fabiana Arejola, or descendants of her heirs, should read these letters for their own enlightenment.

The first letter was written by Herminia Imperial Ursua to all legatees and heirs. The second was written by my son, Fr. Rodolfo G. Arejola, to Arch. Leonardo Legaspi. The last was written by my youngest son, Jaime G. Arejola, to Rome and the Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines and to the CBCP. These letters are terse and reveal what the settlement deal tried to hide.

Herminia's letter did not name anyone, but on July 6, 1994, Ramon Arejola, Nelia Ziga and Helen Arejola asked then Asst. City Prosecutor Alfredo Agawa to subpoena her for oral

defamation. The confrontation, however, revealed that they had no case against Herminia at all. They just wanted to harass and humiliate her to silence her. Then Asst. City Prosecutor Alfredo Agawa, allegedly a classmate of Ramon Arejola, was a totally willing tool to instill fear on Herminia for questioning the Capilihan settlement deal which the Will violators made with Arch. Legaspi.

Herminia and her family and I and my family, share the firm belief that no court can amend or change the terms and conditions of a probated Will. Nor can any deals or settlements entered into by and among legatees and heirs be legal and binding if such deals or settlements would violate the probated Will, especially when the premises of such deals or settlements are based on misinformation.

THE BANTIGUE COCONUT LAND:

Bantigue in San Fernando, Camarines Sur is another violated property. Bantigue consists of 42 hectares and is planted with prime productive coconut trees. It is still held in common by all the heirs. If it were to be divided among the heirs following the apportioning procedure stipulated in Manay Babing's Will, 1/3 of the coconut land would belong to the Imperial Family, 1/3 to the Alvarez Family and the remaining 1/3 to the Arejola Family with Josefa Alvarez Dabu and Felisa Alvarez lumped in our group. In our group, each heir's share would amount to 2 hectares at 1/7 of 1/3 sharing. My sister Expectacion, however, would have a larger share in the final division of the property since Jose Alvarez Jr, half-brother of Josefa Alvarez Dabu, sold his share to her when she was still alive..

Yet, Helen Arejola, without showing cause to the other heirs, declared the entire property under the estate of her father, Luis Arejola. This was subsequently rectified by the court through the inter-pleader filed by Herminia Imperial Ursua.

Then Ramon Arejola used his legal expertise to come up with Tax Declaration No. 004-92 in the name of a certain Jorge Ariola whom he claimed to be his father and thereafter executed a Deed of Absolute Sale for 2.5 hectares (more than his father's rightful share of 2 hectares), without due notice to all the other heirs, to the Municipality of San Fernando through then Mayor Eugenio Lagasca Jr., allegedly Ramon Arejola's schoolmate. To this date, I doubt if they have registered the Deed of Absolute Sale with the Registry of Deeds.

Sometime in 2000, Josefa Alvarez Dabu sent me a document to sign, appointing Nelia Ziga as Attorney-in-Fact of all the heirs to negotiate with the Department of Agrarian Reform a Voluntary Offer to Sell the Bantigue property. Whatever Nelia Ziga did with that piece of paper is null and void since I, a living heir, did not sign it.

IT PAINS ME TO SEE HOW SOME HEIRS AND THEIR CHILDREN HAVE BECOME BLINDED BY THEIR INSATIABLE GREED!

Perhaps, the Will violators think that Josefa Alvarez Dabu can shield their crime against Manay Babing's Will by turning her against me, their fiercest critic after Herminia died, through her February 23, 2006 affidavit. And Josefa Alvarez Dabu may not realize that she is merely being used. But it does not matter because she cannot dictate the truth according to her whim.

TO HER, I SAY: ANYONE WHO ALLOWS INJUSTICE SHARES THE CRIME!

On her deathbed, Herminia confided to me her great disappointment on the violators of her

Lola's Will. She could not understand why they did what they did to her: hauling her to the prosecutor's office on a charge of oral defamation. Did they think she could be intimidated? Did they think she could be silenced? Had Ramon Arejola forgotten that her family, the Imperial Family, once gave shelter to Jorge Arejola (Judge Ramon Arejola's father) and his family when they desperately needed a roof over their heads in Naga?

I SHARE HERMINIA'S DISAPPOINTMENT.

Ramon Arejola stayed with my family when he studied at the Ateneo de Naga until he finished his college education. My wife and I treated him as our own son. Now he masterminds the effort to discredit me and my family, as he and the other Will violators did with Herminia, through innuendos that I am an illegitimate son and a usurper because I continue to speak against their contemptible violation against Manay Babing's Will.

I CAN LIVE WITH BEING AN ILLEGITIMATE SON IF IT WERE TRUE.

But it is Judge Ramon Arejola and his siblings who cannot seem to accept that their father, Jorge Arejola, was, in truth and in fact, the illegitimate son of my father, Antonio Arejola. Jorge's mother, Sofronia del Rosario, abandoned him at my mother's doorsteps when she learned that my father married my mother, Valeriana Prudente. My mother accepted him into our family and treated him as one of her own children and we grew up calling him Manoy, which my own children followed as a term of endearment.

Upon learning of Judge Ramon Arejola's machinations, my son, Fr. Rodolfo G. Arejola, wrote my youngest son, Jaime: "It seems that Ramon and Josefina (Ramon's sister who now prominently uses the name Fabiana) would now like to think that Manoy is a legitimate son. The fact is that, during my time as a seminarian and I frequented their house in Minalabac, Manoy introduced me to some people whom he said were his siblings... Manoy was not ashamed of the truth. The previous Arejolas were not ashamed of the truth... It is only now that Ramon and Josefina are afraid of the truth."

SO AFRAID, IN FACT, AS TO IMPUTE THEIR FATHER'S ILLEGITIMACY ON ME AND GLOAT AS THOUGH IT WERE A STIGMA OF GRAVE DISHONOR!

They now choose not to remember the time Ramon pleaded with me to lend them money for Manoy's hernia operation.

They now choose not to remember the time Josefina asked my son, Jaime, to take Manoy into our house when he needed to undergo intensive physical therapy in Naga due to Parkinson's disease.

They now choose not to remember that it was Jaime who found Manoy alone, dirty and neglected at the Roa Hospital lobby where they just left him when Manoy was about to die and called the attention of Dr. Dolly Perez to Manoy's condition.

They now choose not to remember the many times Josefina borrowed money from Jaime for Manoy's prescriptions.

They now choose not to remember that it was Jaime who brought Mons. Jose Roxas, then Rector of the Holy Rosary Major Seminary, to minister the last rites on Manoy which none of them attended.

They now choose not to remember that it was my son, Fr. Rodolfo G. Arejola and my niece, Emma Arejola Ziga-Siy, who paid Manoy's hospital bills after he died.

They now choose not to remember that Jaime gave his own Barong Pilipino as Manoy's burial attire because Manoy needed a decent one.

Judge Ramon Arejola and Josefina, perhaps, have many reasons, indeed, to be afraid of the truth.

A MAN DOES NOT BECOME NOBLE BECAUSE OF HIS ANCESTRY.

Luis Arejola, Helen Arejola's father, was also an illegitimate son of my half-brother Manoy Vicong, Gen. Ludovico Arejola. The truth is, Luis Arejola's mother became mentally distressed because Manoy Vicong refused to marry her. But Luis Arejola was recognized and accepted by the Arejolas.

In the case of Felisa Alvarez, she bore a son, Romeo Alvarez, who has never met his father. But Romeo Alvarez was accepted by the Arejolas.

As for Nelia Ziga, if her mother Expectacion Arejola-Ziga were alive today, she would have spoken to Arch. Legaspi to stop the alleged special relationship, if true, between him and Nelia Ziga. And she would also disapprove of her claim on the Capilihan Estate.

I am narrating all these facts about the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum and the Arejola Family not to desecrate the memories of the dead nor to bring shame on the living but, as I have stated, out of social duty to protect the family history from being distorted and to demonstrate the good-heartedness of the Arejolas. To them it did not matter who you are but what you can be.

I am old, ready to meet my Creator. As I am about to take my leave from this world, I am sad to see the disarray among the heirs and their descendants caused by the unquenchable greed of the avaricious few.

I reiterate that I mean no malice toward anyone. I only wish to correct the lies being peddled by self-serving heirs and greedy descendants.

I must perform this last solemn act of social duty to speak out the truth before I die.

I have, therefore, prepared this Testament to set the records straight and put to rest all unfounded allegations regarding the Fabiana Arejola Mausoleum and the Arejola Family once and for all.

To attest to the veracity of this Testament, I have caused it to be verified and subscribed to before a competent officer of the law.

ANTONIO P. AREJOLA567 Bagong Lipunan, Sta. Cruz, Naga CityMarch 6, 2009

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) S.S.CITY OF NAGA                              )

          SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 6th day of March, 2009 in the City of Naga, Philippines, affiant exhibiting to me his Senior Citizen I.D. No. 1664 issued in Naga City on July 21, 2005. I hereby certify that I have examined the affiant and he fully understands the contents of this Testament and its consequences.

                                                                                                                                                   P.M. GERARDO R. BORJA

                                                                                    NOTARY PUBLIC                                                                              Until December 31, 2009                                                           2/F DMG Bldg., Penafrancia Avenue, Naga City                                                                    PTR NO. 7004324 1/07/09, Naga City                                                                     IBP NO. 744609 12/19/08, Naga City                                                                               ROLL NO. 39429 4/27/95c.c.:Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi, Archbishop's Palace, Naga CityFr. Gerry Hernandez, Penafrancia Shrine, Naga CityHeirs of Fabiana Arejola and descendants.           N.B.:

Signed and notarized copies of this Testament are deposited at the Bongat and Borja Law Office, 2/F DMG Bldg., Penafrancia Ave., Naga City.

The three letters attached to this Testament are also herein reproduced.

 

1. LETTER OF HERMINA AREJOLA IMPERIAL-URSUA:

 

To the Legatees and Heirs of the Late Fabiana Arejola: 

It's a shame that after almost half a century since the death of the late Fabiana Arejola, a legatee not only has been denied peaceful possession of its legacy but has almost lost it altogether - all because some provisions in her Last Will and Testament have not been respected. All her other properties were divided among her heirs and other legatees according to her "greatest desire that there be peace and harmony between my heirs and legatees," but the Capilihan lot which she bequeathed to the Naga Cathedral has become a thorn to the peace and harmony of the family. I am writing this because my conscience dictates it is my duty to God and to Lola to remind my co-heirs and their heirs of the facts regarding the Capilihan lot.  

The facts stated below were taken from certified true copies from the Court of First Instance, Camarines Sur, Special Proceedings No. 67, Testate Estate of Fabiana Arejola.         

1.      Page 2, paragraph (5) of the Last Will and Testament:  

(5) Lego tambien a la Cathedral de Naga el cocal en el barrio de Haring, Canaman, descrito en el Tax No. 9171, para que del mismo se saque el aceite para lampara del Santisimo y tambien para las necesidades del culto o del parroco.

  English translation:

  (5) Likewise, I bequeath as legacy to the Naga Cathedral, the coconut land situated in barrio Haring, Canaman, described under Tax No. 9171, for the oil to be used in the Holy Eucharist altar and also for the worship as well as the necessities of the parish priest.

 

2. Inventory of the properties of the late Fabiana Arejola – Page 9, No. 42 – A parcel of coconut land, situated at Haring, Canaman, Camarines Sur containing an area of 1 hectare, 86 ares and 54 centares, bounded on the North, by  Geronimo Azaula and Sixto Abdon; on the East, by Heirs of Felipe San Andres and Calawag street; on the South, Calawag street; and on the West by Geronimo Azaula. Declared under Tax No. 9171, in the name of Fabiana Arejola and assessed at P 1,460.00.

  The late Fabiana Arejola owned only one (1) parcel of property in Haring, Canaman, Camarines Sur based on the inventory of her properties which became part of Naga City after the Cadastral Survey in 1978 and designated as Lot No. 1883, per letter of Naga City Assessor Dioscorro S. Aquino to the Deputy Municipal/Provincial Assessor, Canaman, Camarines Sur, dated December 5, 1989.  

3. Page 3, paragraph (15) of the Last Will and Testament:   (15) INSITUTO por mis unicos y Universidad herederos en el remanente de mis bienes, despuses de separado los legados arriba enumerados.   English Translation:   (15) I name as my sole and universal heirs for the rest of my properties after deducting the LEGACIES above mentioned:   (Translated by Atty. Ramon Imperial, Attorney of the late Fabiana Arejola)

  Being a legacy to the Naga Cathedral, the Capilihan lot should first be separated from the other properties in the inventory and not included in the Supplemental Project of Partition.   Here is the comparison of Tax Declaration No. 9171 and Tax Declaration No. 3654     Tax Declaration No. Owner of Property Residence

  9171 Fabiana Arejola Barlin St., Naga, Camarines Sur

  3854 Heirs of Fabiana Arejola Naga City

Location of Property Area Boundaries North East   South West Effectivity Year Supersedes T.D. No.  

Haring, Canaman, Camarines Sur 1.8634   Geronimo Azaula and Sixto Abdon

Heirs of Felipe San Andres and Calawag street

Calawag street Geronimo Azaula 1927 8550

Haring, Canaman, Camarines Sur 1.4500   Josefa Sido Urbano Sanchez   Jose Ojeda Pedro Seranzana 1947 NEW Tax Declaration declared by Angel San Juan – August 28, 1950

  Tax Declaration No. 9171 was revised by the Municipal Assessor’s Office of Canaman, Camarines Sur in 1949 and declared under Tax Declaration No. 117 which was still in effect in 1964 per advise of tax delinquency from the Office of the Treasurer, Canaman, Camarines Sur. Due to its proximity to the boundary, said property was also declared in Naga, Camarines Sur under Tax Declaration No. 11991 effective 1927, canceling Tax Declaration No. 8919. All these tax declarations have the same area and boundaries in the name of Fabiana Arejola as described in the inventory of her real properties.   Tax Declaration No. 3654 is a NEW Tax Declaration effective 1947 declared in Canaman, Camarines Sur, August 28, 1950, in the name of the Heirs of Fabiana Arejola by Angel San Juan, former overseer, with a different area and different boundaries. This tax declaration was issued only thirty-nine (39) days before the signing of the Supplemental Project of Partition and almost three and a half (3 ½) years after the inventory was submitted to the Court on April 1, 194. It does not appear in either the Last Will and Testament or in the inventory. All the real properties in the inventory had tax declaration numbers effective prior to the signing of the Will on April 11, 1943. I believe this Capilihan problem started when somebody used Tax Declaration No. 3654 in the agreement while other heirs presumed it was the Tax Declaration No. of another smaller lot described on Page 8 - No. 36 of the inventory as follows:  

No. 36 - A parcel of coconut land, situated at Bagumbayan, Naga Camarines Sur, containing an area of 34 ares and 84 centares, bounded on the North, by Gavina Natividad on the East by Damian Ravago; on the South and West, by Gavina Natividad. Declared under Tax No. 11867, in the name of Fabina Arejola and assessed at P 280.00.

  This lot located in what is now Zone 6, Calauag, Naga City is the property which other heirs knew belonged to Jorge Arejola, Felisa Alvarez, Expectacion Arejola de Ziga and Luis Arejola, to be divided among themselves in equal shares as provided in the Supplemental Project of Partition, according to their agreement. I have reliable information that the original heirs took possession of this lot.   After deducting all the legacies as provided in Paragraph (15) of the Last Will and Testament, no heir can claim the Capilihan lot. It is the testator’s only properly in Canaman (now a part of Naga City after the Cadastral Survey) with two (2) streets as boundaries, therefore it cannot be mistaken for another. I firmly believe Lola would never bequeath to the Naga Cathedral a property that did not exist.   I would like to believe that the present heirs were merely misled by the NEW Tax Declaration and their failure to read other documents pertaining to Special Proceedings No. 67. I hope after reading this, you will respect Lola’s legacy to the Naga Cathedral.  

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Caceres (RCBC) is also to be blamed for what is happening now because it has been remiss in protecting its property. It was only in 1989 that said property was declared in the name of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Caceres under Tax Declaration No. 005.1447 in Naga City but on February 1, 1993, the Court ordered the City Assessor of Naga City to cancel it “for lack of evidence of property ownership.” While denying exclusion of the Capilihan lot from the inventory of the properties of the late Luis Arejola, the Court said “ it has no jurisdiction to determine with finality the question of ownership ” of the Capilihan lot “for such must be litigated in a separate action.” Since there is still a course of action open to the  Roman Catholic Bishop of Caceres to assert its ownership to the lot, why did the Archbishop of Caceres enter into an agreement with the four claimants wherein it is stated only 1/5 of the proceeds of the sale of the lot will go to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Caceres? Since he declared the Capilihan lot in the name of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Caceres in 1989, he knew very well the whole property belongs to the Naga Cathedral. If he signed the Amicable Agreement because he decided it was more practical than a court litigation or for whatever reason, does it not constitute a violation not only of paragraph (16) of the Last Will and Testament but more importantly abetting violation of one of the Commandments of God?                                                                       (Sgd.) HERMINIA I. URSUA                                                                                       

   

2. LETTER OF FR. RODOLFO G. AREJOLA:

 

November 1995  

MOST REV. LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI, D.D.                   Archbishop of CaceresArchbishop’s Residence                    Naga City, Philippines

Dear Archbishop Legaspi,

This letter is a product of three months’ reflection, and the decision to pursue a solution of this letter’s contents is a matter of conscience and justice for all concerned.

There are some questions I would like to ask about the “Capilihan Issue”.

1.) When Attorney Ramon Arejola and company first initiated their quest to get this property from the Archdiocese, my brother Jaime and my aunt Herminia Imperial Ursua came to see you with their copy of the last Will And Testament of my late aunt, Doña Fabiana Arejola. What was the action taken by the Archbishop’s Office? What were the credentials of these people who claimed to be the only surviving heirs verified? Did the Archbishop’s Office demand for proof of Attorney Ramon Arejola’s claim that he was representing the heirs officially? Was there an official consultation with the Achdiocesan

Council of  Consultors are required by Canon Law in matters concerning sales of church properties.

2.) Your Excellency was well aware that you had a student in UST whose name was Rodolfo Arejola, who was subsequently ordained priest and is working in Guam with Archdiocese of Agana. What better person to inquire from than a priest who may be related to late Doña Fabiana Arejola? The Chancery Office has my address because we corresponded officially when Fr. Vito San Andres came to work for the Archdiocese of Agana.

3.) Apparently, the Archbishop’s  Office totally ignored the objection made by Jaime Arejola and Herminia Ursua, and the existence of a Fr. Rodolfo Arejola was not even explored as a possible avenue for research. Why?

4.) When I came home last July 1, I found out that Your Excellency had signed   a document where it was claimed that the copy of the Last Will And Testament of Doña Fabiana Arejola was “lost and destroyed” and that the Archbishop has waived the Church’s claim to the said property. This document contained a malicious lie and had a malicious intent, and when I saw Your Excellency’s signature to the document, I knew in conscience that I must pursue a canonical process to obtain justice. The last information  I received was the amount of about $181,000.00 has already been paid out to the First   Party and the Second Party of   the said document entitled “Amicable Settlement”.

5.) My Brother Jaime and my Aunt Herminia’s intent was to save the property for the Church. They represented the rest of the living heirs of Doña Fabian Arejola. Why did the Achbishop’s Office not act on their objection, but instead gave up the Church’s right to the property to these unscrupulous "heirs”? Why? Was it because of the money involved?

          Your Excellency, in light of the above information, I have no choice, as a priest and as an heir of Doña Fabiana Arejola, but to refer this matter to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference and to Rome for the proper canonical action. Copies of this letter will be sent His Eminence, Jose Cardinal Sanchez, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and to all Bicolano Bishops. Copies of this letter will also be made available to the Bicol clergy if the need arises. 

         In the name on the “real heirs of Doña Fabiana Arejola”, I remain still

                                                                            Respectfully,                                                                (Sgd.)  Fr. Rodolfo G. Arejola

3. LETTER OF JAIME G. AREJOLA:

 

February 8, 1996

 

CARDINAL JOSE P. SANCHEZ

Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy

Palazzo delle Congregazioni

Piazza Pio XII

300193 Roma

 

MOST REVEREND GIAN VINCENZO MORENI

Apostolic Nuncio

2140 Taft Avenue

Manila

 

ARCHBISHOP OSCAR CRUZ

President, Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines

Intramuros, Manila

 

Your Excellencies:

 

I would like to respectfully request your good offices to look into the matter regarding

my aunt's land donation to the Naga Cathedral Parish. (See enclosed: Copy of Last Will and Testament, paragraph #5)

 

Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi violated her Last Will and Testament by abandoning the Church's ownership of the land without proper consultation with the living heirs. (See enclosed Copy of amicable settlement) Ramon Arejola, who claims to represent the heirs of my aunt, is, in fact, a fraudulent signatory to the document since he does not have any authority from the living heirs to represent them.

 

Archbishop Legaspi even lied to us when my aunt, Herminia Ursua, and I showed him a copy of the supposedly "lost" Last Will and Testament. Over groans due to stomach upset which, he said, he always gets whenever he realizes he made a mistake, he promised to have the case reopened. That was over two years ago.

 

Through your good offices, therefore, I would like to seek redress for this grave abuse of my aunt's Last Will and Testament by no less than the Archbishop himself. I have no other recourse but to seek your help because the Archbishop and his minions prefer to cover up this scam.

 

The members of the Naga City Clergy and the religious organizations will also be furnished copies of this letter to ensure transparency in the ventilation of the issues involved in this case.

 

 Very truly yours,

 

 

 (Sgd.) JAIME G. AREJOLA

26 Queborac Drive, Bagumbayan Sur

Naga City, Philippines