City sends 4th demand notice to Filinvest

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Government expects payment from the Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) this week after sending their fourth demand letter.

City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva said that she sent the fourth demand letter last week and she is still awaiting the payment of the P245 million, which is supposed to represent FLI’s fourth installment on the 10-hectare lot it bought at the South Road Properties.

Oliva said that she also expects the FLI to pay the P600 million share of the city government from the proceeds of the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA).

In the demand letter, the city is asking the payment of P858 million for the installment and JVA share including interests for late payment.

Oliva said that under Commission on Audit rules and pursuant to the provisions in the contract, the city can impose interests.

Oliva said that FLI has no reason now to use as an argument the liens and encumbrances in the two lots, which is a consequence of the expropriation case being faced by the city government against the Rallos heirs, since the city has already secured a temporary restraining order (TRO).

The two titles with TCT numbers PT-15971 and PCT-15972 are part of the SRP joint venture parcels. The lots cover 9.7 hectares each and each title was annotated with a Notice of Levy on Execution and Notice of Lis Pendens. The Notice of Levy on Execution was registered last Nov. 2, 2011 after the notice of levy issued by court sheriff Eugenio Fuentes Jr.

The Notice of Lis Pendens was filed by Maurillo Rallos last Jan. 9, 2012 giving notice that a case has been filed and is now pending at Regional Trial Court Branch 9 docketed as Civil Case No. CEB-20388.

But the City Legal Office earlier said that the titles are still “clean titles” because the annotations do not constitute a lien or encumbrance. The annotations do not affect the ownership or interest of the lot owner, according to the city lawyer.

The payment of FLI is needed by the city because it is one of the identified sources in the 2012 Annual Budget.

In a related issue, Oliva said that once the city government is able to prove that the Rallos lot in Sambag II is donated by the owners and not expropriated, she will demand that the Rallos heirs pay the city P56 million, the amount garnished in the past.

Oliva said she will demand the payment with all the interests considering that the money was taken from the city for about a decade ago.

If the Rallos heirs refuse to pay, Oliva said she will be forced to levy their properties, if there is any. — (FREEMAN)