Court stops sale of Petron assets by Bataan gov’t

Petron Corp. has secured a preliminary injunction from the Bataan Regional Trial Court (RTC) to effectively prevent the provincial treasurer of Bataan from auctioning the company’s machinery and equipment at its refinery.

The injunction, which was an offshoot of the alleged unpaid real property taxes from 1994 to the first half of 2007, is effective “pending the determination of the merits of the main action.”

The court stated that the provincial treasurer denied Petron due process when it scheduled the auction sale last Oct. 17 of the company’s properties despite the fact that the revised tax assessment of its properties was not yet final and still to be resolved by the Local Board of Assessment Appeals (LBAA).

In the same ruling, the RTC also dismissed the provincial treasurer’s urgent motion for the immediate dissolution of the temporary restraining order (TRO) which was issued last Oct. 15.

The court also noted that Petron has submitted a surety bond to cover for the supposed taxes and this has been approved by the Central Board of Assessment Appeals (CBAA) in lieu of a cash deposit.

The CBAA has also ordered the LBAA to proceed with the resolution of Petron’s appeal on the revised assessments.

Records show that Petron has been religiously paying its real property taxes, even advancing payments to the province of Bataan.

Since 1994, Petron has paid P1.675 billion in real property taxes based on assessments made and approved by the province.

Petron’s 180,000 barrel per day Bataan refinery supplies nearly 40 percent of the country’s total fuel requirements including vital strategic industries such as power, manufacturing, transport etc.