THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9 in Cebu City dismissed the petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by former Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) consultant Byron Garcia and four others concerning their removal as members of the Cebu CFI Community Cooperative.
In a two-page decision, RTC Branch 9 presiding judge Alexander Acosta said he was not convinced of the arguments and evidence provided by Garcia and his co-petitioners that would allow them to be issued a TRO.
“After evaluating the oral arguments of the counsels of the parties and the evidences presented and admitted in evidence, this Court finds and so holds that the damages to be incurred by the petitioners are not of great or irreparable injury but more on monetary damages,” Acosta said in his order.
Acosta also took back and cancelled the ex-parte TRO that it issued for 72 hours and both parties to attend an injunction hearing on Jan. 16, 2019.
Aside from Garcia, also included in the petitioners are former Provincial Engineer Eulogio Pelayre, his wife Josephine, Jan Paolo Salvatierra and Junife Molijon.
During their testimony, Garcia and Pelayre’s wife claimed that if the court did not issue an injunctive relief, their applications and renewal for loan before the CFI could no longer proceed and they could no longer receive their share of interests and dividends.
But Acosta explained in his order that there was no basis in supporting the application for TRO to Garcia’s group as he saw no evidence to show that there was grave injustice or irreparable injury.
Lito Astillero, lawyer and CFI vice chairman, said that on Saturday, Dec. 15, they will proceed with the distribution of dividends to their members.
Garcia and his co-petitioner earlier filed a petition for injunction, asking the court to prevent the CFI directors from conducting any transaction after they were removed as members of the cooperative earlier this year.
Named in the complaint were CFI officials, such as lawyer Winston Garcia, who serves as chairman; Astillero, Alma Jaranilla, engineer Imelda Perez and Provincial Accountant Ramon Dumayac.
Winston is Byron’s older brother.
Astillero clarified that Garcia was removed after he besmirched the reputation of the CFI officials on his Facebook account.
“Gipa-explain na sila sa Board pero wa ka-explain. So, mao tong gitangtang sila as members and nawala na ilang rights, benefits, and privileges. He (Byron) is out to destroy CFI. We have to defend ourselves. Dili lang ni usa ka tawo ang CFI. It is a cooperative (They were made to explain to the Board, but they did not explain. That’s why they were removed as members and lost their rights, benefits and privileges... The CFI is not just one person),” Astillero told SunStar Cebu.
Astillero said that CFI’s 120,000 members are aware of the controversy Byron brought to light.
As of Nov. 30 this year, CFI’s assets reached P12 billion.
“CFI is still going strong, no cause for concern sa mga members,” Astillero assured. (from SCG of SuperBalita Cebu/JKV)