Ministerio and Sadaya; the owners of a portion of the lot used as Mango Avenue

It was during the American era that the construction of avenues and boulevards started, as during the four centuries of Spanish domination our streets were narrow. In Cebu, the American urban planners designed wide roads with symmetry. Among them was the Mango Avenue (now officially named as Maxilom Avenue).

There were, however, private lands that were used by the government without the consent of its owners and expropriation proceedings went on without their knowledge.

Angel Ministerio and Asuncion Sadaya were the registered owners of a lot containing an area of 1,045 square meters. The national government, through the Public Highway Commission, took possession of the lot and used a portion of it for the widening of Mango Avenue in 1927.

Mango Avenue had already been existing before 1921, but its widening started only in 1924. Presently, Mango Avenue (now Maxilom Avenue) has a length of 1.520 kilometers with the additional length of its Maxilom Avenue extension (in the reclaimed area) at .322 kilometers. It has an existing road right of way of 20 meters and a sidewalk of five meters. Road right of way and sidewalks were introduced by the Cebu City government through City Ordinance No. 1467 on July 26, 1993. It was signed by Mayor Tomas dela Rama Osmeña on August 9, 1993.

The private owners demanded before the Public Highway Commission and the auditor general the return of the lot or payment of due compensation.

Ministerio and Sadaya filed a petition before the Court of First Instance for the possession or the payment of the lots used as portion of the widening of the Mango Avenue. The judicial demand was made on April 13, 1966.

On August 25, 1965 (a year before the filing of the judicial demand), the appraisal committee of the City of Cebu approved Resolution No. 90, appraising the reasonable and just price of Lot No. 647-B at P50.00 per square meter or a total price of P52,250.00. (To be continued)