Supreme Court allows P4-B suit in Smokey Mountain project

MANILA, Philippines — There are no more hurdles for the  P4-billion civil suit against the government filed by the private developer of the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP) in Manila. 

In a resolution released Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed with finality R-II Builders’s lawsuit to recover P4 billion from Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) and National Housing Authority (NHA) over the failed housing project on the 121,905-square-meter property in Tondo.

The SC’s special first division dismissed the appeal of the two agencies to dismiss the civil case filed by R-II with the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC).

The SC instead affirmed its decision in July last year that upheld the right of R-II Builders to pursue its claim.

The SC reiterated its earlier ruling that R-II’s suit before the lower court is aimed at recovering the residual value of the asset pool it formed with the NHA and HGC after its liquidation and the annulment of instruments involved in the asset pool.

The asset pool was formed to raise funds for the project.