THE Court of Appeals has denied the appeal filed by the Dagupan City government on the decision of a lower court regarding the civil case filed by MetroState Realty Corporation.

But the city is not giving up the fight as City Legal Officer George Mejia, upon the instruction of Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., has already filed a motion for reconsideration on January 20.

MetroState is a private company that is constructing a two-storey tourism/commercial building on a lot owned by the city at the former Magsaysay Park just in front of the city hall.

The project construction has been ordered to stop when the new city administration under Fernandez took over as the company was found to have no building permit.

This prompted MetroState to file a civil case seeking mandamus with prayer for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order before the Regional Trial Court against City Engineer Virginia Rosario to compel her to issue a building permit.

Rosario was sued in her capacity as the Building Official of Dagupan City.

On October 22, 2007, Regional Trial Court Judge Rolando Mislang decided in favor of MetroState, forcing Rosario, through Mejia, to file an appeal before the CA.

However, the appeal was dismissed by the 10th division of the CA through a decision penned by Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario and concurred by Associate Justices Rebecca De Guia-Salvador and Vicente Veloso on December 24, 2008.

The CA stated: “In the instant case, only a question of law is involved as the facts are settled and disputed. Hence, there is no basis to disturb the decision of the trial court.”

In dismissing the appeal, the CA said that “anent the claim of the appellant (Rosario) that the processing of application for a building permit requires the exercise of sound discretion, suffice it to say that upon compliance with the prescribed requirements under the law, issuance of said building permit becomes ministerial”.

According to records of the case, Rosario refused and continued to refuse to issue a building permit unless MetroState submits a copy of the Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution authorizing the previous mayor, Benjie Lim, to enter into a contract with the company.

“Clearly, appellant’s posturing cannot be sustained for lack of merit. To grant her that power of discretion after appellee (MetroState) has fully complied with the requirements of law is to leave appellee at the mercy of Building Official, who, at her whim and caprices, may subject building permit applicants to her arbitrary judgment, the CA ruled.”—LM

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