Monday, October 16, 2006 Firms file case to get back Coral Reef Resort from PNB
OWNERS of a defunct resort in Lapu-Lapu City are fighting to get back its property from creditors.
Romulo Senining, legal counsel of Palm Tree Estate Inc. (Palm Tree) and Bel Air Golf Inc.(Bel Air), said his clients have filed a civil case against Philippine National Bank (PNB) for “illegal mortgage and foreclosure” of Coral Reef Resort and Golf Club.
Foreseeing a boom in Cebu’s tourism industry, Palm Tree and Bel Air are planning to resume the operations of the resort, as soon as the case is resolved, said Kenichi Akimoto, president and chairman of both companies.
The resort, which started operations in 1989, has been foreclosed by PNB in September last year after Palm Tree and Bel Air failed to pay their $420-million loan incurred in 1997 for the purpose of expansion.
Senining said the main case, filed in 2001 yet, seeks to nullify the property’s mortgage with PNB on allegations of vague loan agreements.
“The terms and conditions of the loan agreements such as that on the value of the peso to the dollar were (allegedly) changed after the mortgage was constituted. There was also coercion, an imposition on the companies to accept unilaterally the interest pegged by PNB,” he said in an interview.
Cancel
Palm Tree and Bel Air incurred the loan in 1997, when the value of the peso to the dollar was still around P24. The peso has depreciated since then, and now stands at about P50 to the dollar.
The companies sought for the cancellation of the Torrens title on the 36-hectare property, which was issued to PNB last year, Senining said.
Earlier, Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano said he will talk to PNB, the new owner of Coral Reef, to encourage them to look for a partner-company that would help the bank run the resort hotel.
Durano has been encouraging owners of defunct hotels, such as Cebu Plaza Hotel that became a property of Metrobank, to re-open to help solve the room shortage in Cebu.
Metrobank has partnered with hotel management company Marco Polo to run Cebu Plaza, a property surrendered by Pathfinder Holdings Philippines to the bank.
Akimoto said they are not surrendering Coral Reef to PNB, adding that the companies have invested more than $30 million to $40 million on the 50-room resort from their own coffers. (JBN)
