City wins case vs. Rallos heirs

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government won its latest legal battle against the heirs of the late Rev. Fr. Vicente Rallos.

RTC branch 9 presiding judge Alexander Acosta, in a decision last August 27,  ordered the return of a part of the South Road Properties to the city, as well as the money that has been tagged in the bank.

The court ruled in favor of the instant motion for reconsideration filed by the Cebu City government against the motion to strike out or expunge defendant’s motion for reconsideration.

“Further orders the Office of the Registrar of Deeds of Cebu City to cause the cancellation of Memoranda of Encumbrances and Notice of Lis Pendens on Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. PT-15971 and PT-15972 issued by said Registry of Deeds under Entry No. 2011008067 and Entry No. 20122000203,” Acosta said.

The SRP lot was granted to the claimants after their property was used as a road in Sambag I.

Furthermore, Acosta ruled for the dissolution and cancellation of the Notice of Garnishment dated September 27 and 28, 2011 tagging P43 million deposited with the Philippine Postal Bank, preventing the city government from using the money.

With the cancellation of the garnishment, the city government, under the leadership of Mayor Michael Rama, may now use the funds, as well as the SRP lot, which is part of the Filinvest joint venture project.

City attorney Jerone Castillo told reporters that with this development, the city government  can finally access its resources, which was stopped by the previous court order favoring the Rallos heirs.

“For the information of everyone, you may know that Rallos filed a notice of dispendense and it became incumbent on parts of the properties at SRP. We filed for a motion for reconsideration and the court granted it through this order dated August 27, 2013 which we received just today. In other words, the encumbrance to the title is hereby cancelled and number 2, the notice of garnishment dated 27 September and 28 September are hereby lifted or dissolved. In other words, we can now use our own money,” Castillo said.

The Rallos case has been affecting the sales of the South Road Properties, with investors shying away due to the continuing legal battle.

With this, the mayor instructed Castillo to immediately proceed to the Registry of Deeds to have the records corrected in favor of the city government.

 â€œIn order to materialize and constitute operational act, I am now directing my city attorney, go to the registry of deeds and submit the order with the corresponding letterhead. Please act accordingly,” Rama said.

The mayor added that he will meet with Castillo and upcoming city treasurer Diwa Cuevas to discuss whether or not it is wise to pull out the funds from the bank.

“I have to sit down with my city attorney quickly because if this bank cannot take care of our deposit, why should it be there?” the mayor added.

Apart from his own people, Rama will also meet with the Filinvest management to discuss the development.

The Cebu City Council earlier pointed out that the city is out of funds, referring to tagged money at the bank which the city could not use to pay its obligations. With the court decision, the mayor urged the city councilors to join hands with the executive branch for the development of the Queen City of the South.

“Dili man ko ingon manghiwi nila. I don’t consider them my enemy. I was even glad that they were elected because they’re all my friends,” Rama said referring to councilors who belong to the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), who questioned the financial status of the city following an adverse opinion and observation from the Commission on Audit. — /QSB (FREEMAN)