MC Adore buyer seeks intervention
SALE NULLIFICATION CASE
THE buyer in the controversial sale of the MC Adore Hotel in Dagupan has filed a petition seeking to intervene in the case filed in court on the nullification of a resolution giving outgoing Mayor Benjamin Lim the authority to proceed with the property transaction.
AMB ALC Holdings and Management, Inc., headed by former Philippine Ambassador to Laos Antonio Cabangon Chua, in a 12-page Motion for Reconsideration in Intervention, said it is “directly affected” by the case as “it is now the registered owner of the MCAdore Properties and therefore, “more than anyone else, it enjoys not only direct and unmistakable, but in fact, superior rights, over the said lands.”
Regional Trial Court Branch 40 Judge Mervin Jovito Samandan handed down a decision on May 20 declaring null and void Resolution 6738-2012 passed by the Dagupan sangguniang panlungsod (SP) authorizing Lim to negotiate the sale of the city-owned MC Adore Hotel.
Meanwhile, City Legal Officer Roy Laforteza, without consulting the incoming city administration led by Mayor-elect Belen Fernandez, has filed a motion for reconsideration on the court’s ruling in behalf of the respondents, which includes Lim who has disappeared and whose health condition remains a mystery since May 13.
In the motion to intervene, the company’s lawyers, Ferdinand Topacio and Joselito Lomangaya, pointed out the court may have “overlooked” a subsequent act of the SP, Resolution No. 6809-2012 dated October 1, 2012, which supposedly superseded Resolution 6738-2012 and was not questioned by SP Secretary Ryan Ravanzo who filed the case for nullification.
NO AUTHORITY
City Administrator Vlad Mata appeared at the press conference ostensibly to represent the city government but Acting-Mayor Belen Fernandez later said Mata had no authority to speak for the city in that press conference organized by the Cabangon-Chua group.
“He went there without any permission and authority from the acting-mayor,” Fernandez said.
TRANSFER DONE
The company lawyers said “the sale of the MCAdore Hotel has been consummated after AMB ALC Holdings won the bid for P119 million during a public bidding last January 7, 2013. The titles were already transferred to the name of AMB ALC Holdings.
They cited payments made by the company, including P8,925 to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for capital gains and documentary stamp tax; local transfer tax of P892,5000 to the Dagupan City Treasurer; and P554.135 as registration fee for the property’s titles.
Topacio also disputed the ruling of the court that an ordinance, and not just a resolution, is needed to authorize the mayor.
“Nowhere in the enumerated powers and duties of the Sangguniang Panlungsod under the Local Government Code can one find the requirement of an ordinance for such prior authorization in favor of the mayor,” said Topacio.
“The ruling in this case has cast a cloud over the title of AMB ALC Holdings and Management, Inc., which should be indefeasible and not subject to collateral attack under the principles governing registration of lands under the Torrens system,” the petition reads.
At the same time, the company noted that it is filing its petition even if it deems “ridiculous” because the court lacks jurisdiction over the property in question.
The two lawyers contended that “there is a need to level the playing field by allowing our client to participate in these proceedings.”
They are further asking the court to reverse its ruling on the nullification of the resolution.
Ravanzo’s lawyer, Borromeo Bustamante, already filed his reply on the petition last Friday and the court gave Topacio five days to answer Bustamante’s comment.
In turn, Bustamante is also given five days upon receipt of Topacio’s comments to file a rejoinder. —Eva Visperas
AMB ALC LAWYER: NO TO REBIDDING
A PROTRACTED legal battle on the sale and ownership of the MC Adore hotel properties is looming.
The lawyer of the winning bidder in the contested sale of MC Adore said his client will reject any proposal from Acting-Mayor Belen Fernandez for a possible rebidding.
In a press conference, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, representing AMB ALC Holdings and Management Inc. owned by businessman Antonio Cabangon Chua, maintained that there was already a consummated contract and therefore a rebidding is out of the question.
“Why should we buy something that we had already bought? Nasa titulo po nyan nandun na eh,” Topacio added.
Fernandez stands firm on her position that the sale of the MC Adore, which is owned by Dagupan City, was grossly disadvantageous to the public because the selling price of P119 million is too low compared to the going market price.
Many local businessmen have expressed the same sentiment finding the regional office of the Commission on Audit as grossly disadvantageous to the city when it affirmed the erroneous appraisal submitted by the Lim administration.
Fernandez earlier cited the selling price of Mayor Lim’s property which was about only 200 meters away from the hotel and fetched at least P35,000 per sq. meter compared to what the city’s appraisal of P16,000 only.
Topacio commented that Fernandez’s stance on the price is “mere opinion” against the floor price determined by the Commission on Audit.
POLITICAL HARASSMENT
He accused the incoming administration of Mayor-elect Fernandez of politicking.
“That’s smacks of political harassment that should have been brought out long before,” he said.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
