THE heirs of the late Fr. Vicente Rallos are intensifying efforts to collect a long-standing debt from the Cebu City Government for a 4,564-square-meter lot acquired for a public road in Barangay Sambag 2.
Maurillo Rallos, representing the heirs, submitted a copy of the second amended writ of execution to the City Council, urging it to fulfill its legal obligation of paying them over P400 million. The writ was issued by the Court Appeals (CA) and affirmed by the Supreme Court (SC).
The dispute traces back to Civil Case 20388 at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9, which involves land expropriated in the 1960s. The courts ruled in favor of the Rallos heirs, ordering the City Government to provide just compensation.
Despite multiple rulings from RTC Branch 9, the CA and the SC, the City Government has resisted giving the full payment to the heirs.
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, in response, called on the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Picpa)-Cebu Chapter to assist in determining the correct computation of the remaining amount owed to the Rallos heirs.
Among the considerations in the recomputation were the previous payments made in 2000 and 2009.
Demand letter
Rallos’ heirs warned that failing to pay a judgment for just compensation immediately leads to the accumulation of interest, citing decisions from the Commission on Audit (COA) and SC.
They also said a COA policy holds city officials personally liable for interest incurred due to their willful refusal to enact the necessary appropriations ordinance.
On Feb. 20, the Rallos heirs sent a demand letter to Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, including a notice of levy upon realty for a city-owned lot at the South Road Properties (SRP). The following day, their legal counsel, Carlos Barrios, sent a separate demand letter to the City Legal Office, warning that a public auction could proceed if the obligation remains unpaid.
Recomputation
During the council’s regular session on March 19, Pesquera argued, based on her computation and citing her experience as a CPA, that the City Government overpaid the Rallos heirs by P3,047,689.42.
She said the City Government made a payment of P21,291,369.42 in July 2009, and P34,905,000 in December 2000.
Pesquera acknowledged that the Rallos heirs have hired experts to compute the actual amount payable by the City Government, but she stressed that a neutral agency must handle the computation.
“I want the people to understand that this particular parcel of land (of the Rallos clan) is the most expensive road in the city, with 4,654 square meters, and more than 80 percent of it is tenanted. The city already paid P56 million pesos as of July 2009,” Pesquera said.
“And now they’re wanting to levy a property worth P5.9 billion. So it will even become the most expensive road in the entire country,” she added.
Pesquera said Picpa’s involvement ensures an impartial financial review, given the significant amounts involved and prior payments made by the City Government.
Councilor Nestor Archival, during the session, questioned whether the council has the authority to review or go against a SC decision regarding the payment.
Councilor Rey Gealon clarified that the recent legal position of the City Legal Office mandates that the payment must go through COA before disbursement, even after the SC’s decision.
He said the City must adhere to the March 4 order of RTC Branch 9, which granted the City Government’s motion to lift and set aside the levy notice.
Legal battle
The legal battle began in 1997 when the Rallos family filed a complaint against the City Government.
The RTC Branch 9 ruled in favor of the Rallos heirs, a decision upheld by the CA and the SC in subsequent years.
Despite these rulings, the City Government has resisted payment. In February 2023, the SC affirmed the City’s obligation to pay the debt.
The SC, in its decision promulgated on Feb. 13, 2023, denied the City Government’s petition to nullify the final decisions of the CA and RTC Branch 9 ordering the payment.
In June that year, the Rallos heirs gave the City Government an ultimatum to settle its obligation of P472 million by Sept. 2, 2023. But the City still did not pay them. / EHP