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Thursday, January 27, 2005
Supreme Court orders closure of public market
By Jay Dooma Balnig
ILOILO CITY -- Stall owners and vendors would no longer be able to sell in the public market of San Miguel town in Iloilo starting Thursday, when the closure order issued by the Supreme Court on the facility will take effect.
The Office of the Provincial Sheriff will execute the closure order from the High Court.
Sheriffs Rolando Huele and Camilo Divinagracia will serve on Thursday the writ of execution issued by the 14th Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) in San Miguel dated October 4, 2004.
The writ was issued after the Regional Trial Court Branch 24 sustained the decision of the 14th MCTC dated July 14, 2000, awarding the property where the market stands to the heirs of Francisco Medina.
The Ninth Division of the Court of Appeals also reaffirmed the lower court's decision, dismissing the petition of the San Miguel local government to block the lower court's order dated April 27, 2004.
The local government then filed a petition for expropriation before the Supreme Court but this was also denied by the High Court in July 28, 2004.
As of Wednesday afternoon, barbwires were being prepared by the family of Judge Simplicia Medina to barricade the property.
The 5,000-square meter land owned by the Medinas cover almost 80 percent of the area being occupied by the public market.
Conflicting claims
Conflicting claims were earlier raised when the Medina family moved to recover the property.
The Medina heirs claimed the property was only rented by the local government in the absence of available land for a public market.
They said they want to recover the property as the municipality failed to pay for its lease.
But the local government, represented by then Mayor Jovito Saclauso, claimed the property was already donated by the Medinas to the municipality.
The local government unit, however, could not present any proof to back its claim.
It failed to present a deed of donation to the court.
At present, Mayor Gregorio Villarico tried to save the public market by filing another petition for expropriation last January 25 before a Regional Trial Court.
The local government has yet to look for an alternative site for the affected stall owners and vendors.
(January 27, 2005 issue)
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