Wednesday, April 02, 2008 Court sides with lawyer in dispute with club
THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) has issued a writ of preliminary injunction against an exclusive club that earlier attempted to throw out a lawyer-member.
Before issuing the writ that was served last Monday, Judge Ramon Daomilas also denied the motion for reconsideration that the Casino Español de Cebu submitted.
Daomilas said in the ruling that lawyer Edgar Gica, being a proprietary member of Casino Español, has rights that “he is entitled to exercise and should be accorded proper respect.”
In an interview yesterday, Gica said he immediately tried to see if the club will respect the ruling by dropping by the clubhouse last night. It was the first time he stepped into the clubhouse in close to four years.
Language
The writ of injunction stemmed from the injunction case Gica lodged against the 88-year-old club in December 2005.
The suit, in turn, was in response to four resolutions the Casino Español de Cebu board issued to expel him from the roster for “the use of foul language,” among other reasons.
In an earlier order, Daomilas identified the board officers as Roberto Aboitiz, Jose Sala, Jose Enrico Gandiongco, Sabino Dapat, Jaime Jose Escaño, Manuel Pages Jr. and Gabriel Leyson.
The resolutions were issued last July 30, 2004; Aug. 27, 2004; Jan. 28, 2005 and May 23, 2005.
In the resolutions, the board cited as grounds for expulsion Gica’s alleged failure in “living up to the standards of decency and courtesy by using improper or indecent language against any member or visitor.”
They also wanted Gica removed for “provoking trouble or scandal inside the hall by uttering offensive expression against the club, the members (and) the Board of Directors.”
Removal
In filing the injunction suit, Gica said the resolutions were “illegal, malicious, made in bad faith and with grave abuse of discretion.”
He alleged that his removal from the roster was a result of the questions he raised against the way the club’s board carried out the re-construction of its clubhouse on Ranudo St. He said the project cost the organization P300 million.
In an interview yesterday, he said the problem began when he and some other members began questioning certain contracts signed by the “construction committee” in connection with the reconstruction.
One of the contracts he questioned was worth “P36 million or thereabouts”, awarded to a company that was allegedly organized only a week before the award.
Gica said that at this point, the board officials were fed up with his complaints.
He also admitted that before the incident, he brought to the board’s attention a lot of concerns, including questions why the committee disposed of a Japanese tank the contractor had excavated inside the property without authority. (KNR)
