TWO of Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) officials face civil case served by former mayor lawyer Rolando V. Villamor with Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia and some city officials.
Villamor filed at the clerk of court last December 21, 2009 for "injunction with prayer for preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order" against the defendants.
The defendants include Leonardia, Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, councilors Greg Gasataya, Homer Bais, Dindo Ramos, Al Victor Espino, Napoleon Cordova, Roberto Rojas, Alex Paglumotan, Diosdado Valenzuela, and Kein Daniel Ramos, president, Sangguniang Kabataan federation.
PVB defendants could not be reached to comment on the issue Monday night.
This is relative to the city's controversial relocation site project of P250- million worth loan contract it entered with PVB.
Said contract "was invalid for absence of essential requisites for its validity" based on contracts set forth in Article 1318 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, cited Villamor's complaint.
The requirements include the consent of the contracting parties, object certain subject matter of the contract, and cause of the obligation as established.
The complaint also prayed before the honorable court "to cease and desist" City Government from continuing to apply for any loan with any banking institution.
Also, Villamor filed for a Writ of Injunction, which calls for a recall of the loan agreement transaction between the City Government and the PVB; restrain defendants from entering into any contract of loan agreement; and declare as "null and void" Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution 866 and 873, Series of 2009.
A hearing on the merit of the case has been set Tuesday at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 53.
Meanwhile, Secretary to the Mayor lawyer Vicente Petierre III said the City Government has set for queries on the filing fees that Petierre himself cited to be of "insufficient amount" when Villamor filed the case in court.
"By jurisprudence, it dictates that when you file a case as a taxpayer, you have to justify within yourself the damage. In what manner that the complainant had been damaged, if the loan will be approved," said Petierre.
On the TRO, though he said he respects Villamor's opinion but Petierre cited that a national law already dictates that only the Supreme Court (SC) can issue it and "no other lower courts could issue."
Villamor told a press conference Monday that the SC "is not a court of trial and facts" and that only a lower court can perform the hearing of the facts and evidences.
Petierre, on the other hand, noted that the land banking project is a nationally mandated project, "that the local government could not demolish informal setters without giving them a relocation site."
Petierre said: "By nature, this is a national project giving a relocation site for the informal settlers."
Mayor Leonardia said Bacolod is not the only local government unit engaged in a loan "and the actions of criticizing it (loan project) are a form of political harassment."
All they want is just sabotage the city projects, said Leonardia. (JSG/MAP)