Municipal Trial Court Judge Orlando Ayeng has denied a motion to dismiss filed by Negros Occidental Board Member Nehemias de la Cruz and his wife, Don Salvador Benedicto Vice Mayor Cynthia de la Cruz.

The couple had sought the dismissal of a civil case for forcible entry with damages filed against them before the   Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Murcia by Don Salvador Benedicto residents Romeo Ferrer, Rogelio Rebatado and Jimmy Tolentino.

The plaintiffs said they had been tilling their property in Barangay Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto, handed down to them by their parents for many years now when a group sent by the de la Cruz couple started planting coffee on the land.

The De la Cruz couple, in their motion to dismiss, said the property, being a forest reserve, could not be the subject of a forcible entry case as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has primary jurisdiction over it.

But the judge dismissed the motion for lack of merit in an order dated December 28.

Jose Max Ortiz, lawyer for the complainants, said it is strange that the de la Cruz couple invoked the defense of forest reserve when  they themselves admitted in media interviews that the lots were already titled in the name of Jose de la Cruz, father of the board member,  as early as 1950 .

Ortiz called the court order a initial victory for the plaintiffs and said he expects the court to issue a temporary restraining order against the de la Cruz couple soon.*CPG

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