THE Bacolod City Regional Trial Court Branch 44 denied the petition with prayer for temporary restraining order (TRO) and or preliminary injunction filed by opposition candidates against the city officials, city hall executives, and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) related to the City’s P1.7 billion loan.
The four-page decision was signed by Presiding Judge Ana Celeste Bernad on March 28.
The order stated that the Court finds no cogent reason to grant the application for TRO for lack of legal basis.
The complaint was filed by Asenso para sa Buas-damlag sang Bacolodnon-Magbinuligay Kita sa Kauswagan mayoral candidate Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, vice mayoral candidate Jude Thaddeus Sayson, and businessman Antonio Wong on January 18 against Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran; Councilors Caesar Distrito, Cindy Rojas, Renecito Novero, Em Ang, Elmer Sy, Ana Marie Palermo, Dindo Ramos, Bartolome Orola, Sonya Verdeflor, Lady Gles Gonzales-Pallen, and Ayesha Joy Villaflor; City Council Secretary Vicente Petierre III; City Treasurer Giovanni Balalilhe; City Budget Officer Maria Imelda Williams; City Accountant Corazon Cardel; and DBP Negros Occidental Lending Center head Bernardo Catillion Jr.
The Court said that a writ of preliminary injunction and a TRO are injunctive reliefs and preservative remedies for the protection of substantive rights and interest. An application for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and or TRO may be granted upon the filing of verified application showing facts entitling the applicant to the relief demanded.
Essential for granting the injunctive relief is the existence of an urgent necessity for the writ in order to prevent serious damage. A TRO is issued only if the matter is of such extreme urgency that injustice and irreparable injury will arise unless it is issued immediately.
In the case at bar, after a careful analysis of the averments, contentions and arguments of the parties, the Court found no paramount necessity to issue the injunctive relief. It is, however, of common knowledge that no local government unit can survive the pressing challenges of time and can withstand economic downfalls without relying on any loan assistance from the government, or in any banking institution, the judge said.
The petitioners, in this case, fell short in establishing an imminent or actual danger that would warrant the issuance of TRO. As a matter of fact, in releasing the proceeds of the loan, the petitioners failed to show clear and unmistakable rights, which need the protection of an injunctive writ, the judge added.
The Court said the petitioners’ application for a TRO and writ or preliminary injunction is, as of yet, based on purely speculative grounds, jumping the gun, so to speak, on the labor arbiter. The petitioners are simply anticipating the effects of the loan in the future finance capabilities of the borrower.
The P1.7 billion loan will be utilized for the construction of Bacolod MassKara Coliseum with a budget of P800 million; Progreso Village Relocation Site, P350 million; Bacolod City College Site Development and Facilities, P350 million; and the construction of roads and bridges, P200 million.
Most of the projects were already bid out.