AFTER the approval of a resolution authorizing Mayor Tomas Osmeña to sign a deal, a taxpayer who is also a barangay official is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the City Government from signing the joint venture agreement with Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc. (UHRI).
But when sought for comment, Osmeña said the signing of a joint venture agreement on the P18-billion development on Kawit Island in the South Road Properties (SRP) will push through unless a TRO is issued.
“If there is a TRO we can’t sign, but the TRO is only good for a few days. But we don’t want that,” he said.
Busay Barangay Councilor Amilo Lopez filed a petition for injunction and asked the court for a TRO and writ of preliminary injunction, saying the joint venture agreement (JVA) with UHRI is grossly disadvantageous to the City Government.
In a 10-page petition, Lopez said that the City Council did not authorize Osmeña to enter into the subject deal because the proceedings where the majority bloc approved the resolution covering the authority of the mayor to sign the deal was irregular.
Lopez said that UHRI is disqualified from entering into the JVA based on City Ordinance 2154, which requires that a prospective JVA partner must have a completed project of similar land use and with a cost equal to 75 percent of the JVA project. But UHRI was incorporated only last August 2017.
Lopez also questioned the financial capacity of UHRI, which the Gokongweis own. (RVC)