It's the profiteers vs. all of us!

I got a phone call today from a friend reacting to the La Mesa essays published in the Inquirer last Sunday. He said we got it all wrong. The issue is not about the awardees against the environmentalists, but the profiteers against the rest of us. He said that most of the awardees don't even know that they won a land award, and some of them have died; their heirs unaware of the parcel of land left to them. The curious matter, however, is that the Deed of Sale was executed in favor of only one person who is holding Special Powers of Attorney from awardees, both living and dead. Furthermore, this person is demanding that the MWSS set aside 10% of the payment as his collection fee.

It is a basic principle of the law on agency under the Civil Code, that in general, a special power of attorney (SPA) is immediately extinguished when the principal dies. Thus, if indeed, some of the land awardees who delivered SPAs to the agent have died, then the agent has no more authority to transact for them. Only the heirs of the
land awardees have the legal standing to pursue the award. Yet, the MWSS appears to be inclined to ignore this infirmity and pursue the sale in favor of the sole agent.

Thus, the question is, is this really a fight between legitimate land awardees and environmentalists -- or between well-entrenched appetites against the rest of us?