Courts halt sale of Apo View Hotel

DAVAO CITY — Owners of the Apo View Hotel here heaved a sigh of relief as the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals have stopped the auction of the mortgaged hotel that was supposed to be scheduled yesterday.

Apo View Hotel, owned by the Pamintuan Development Corp., is considered to be a landmark in the city since it is the country’s oldest wholly Filipino-owned hotel.

Standing as one of the most impressive structures in the city’s central business district, Apo View Hotel has undergone several renovations and improvements since it started operations in the early 1950s.

RTC 1st Executive Judge Salvador Ibarreta ruled that the Notice of Foreclosure for Nov. 7 was flawed as the "amended petition was not given due course by RTC Executive Judge Virginia Europa in violation of the procedure of foreclosure of real estate mortgage." Europa reportedly refused to act on a query of the Clerk of Court that would help determine whether the foreclosure would proceed or not since her husband was one of the lawyers of Banco Filipino, the bank Apo View Hotel was mortgaged to.

The Court of Appeals, on the other hand, ordered the resetting of the auction to Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. at the Hall of Justice here after owners of the hotel and the lawyers of Banco Filipino agreed on it last Nov. 5.

The foreclosure of the hotel stemmed from the P270 million loan that the management availed from Banco Filipino in the mid 1990s which was used for the much needed renovation and rehabilitation of the establishment. The loan amount, however increased to over P300 million after the bank claimed the hotel management failed to religiously comply with its obligation.