BAYAMBANG—  The town’s new mayor is gearing for a major legal battle to reverse the recent court ruling awarding the land area occupied by century-old Bayambang Central School to the businessman who negotiated for its ownership through a swap deal with the previous administration.

Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao stopped the construction of fence last week by businessman Willy Chua of Super Concrete Aggregates, the plaintiff, around the school and vowed to exhaust all legal remedies after the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 56 in San Carlos City through Presiding Judge Hermogenes Fernandez issued a writ of execution compelling the municipality to free the property and turn the possession of the 3.1-hectare property in Barangay Zone II to Chua.

The mayor invoked the failure of Chua to secure a building permit for fencing off of the school as his reason for stopping the construction. At the same time, Mr. Quiambao said the town still has 60 days before the decision of the court becomes executory.

Mayor Quiambao did not mince words when he said “…this is really an act of corrupt officials who had the grand design to give away a valuable property of the municipality.”

“That’s corruption. Someone must be jailed here,” he added.

He blamed his predecessor, former mayor Ricardo Camacho, for giving Chua undue advantage, who did not go through the legal process, and still not providing equitable compensation.

Department of Education opposed Camacho’s initiative but was eventually compelled by the court to abide by the agreement entered into by the latter.

“But where did the court order emanate? From Camacho’s Executive Order No. 25 so I can also issue an executive order saying that it is now over, there is no more dengue and they can already return (to the old site),” Mr. Quiambao said.

“I will do everything within the law to stop this grand design and have it corrected,” he said.

He said, “It’s very clear, the Ombudsman was fooled, the people and the municipality were fooled, I don’t know if they are fooling the justice,” he added.

“It’s saddening but it’s not the end. They might have forgotten that under the rule of court, if an order came from fraud, accident, misrepresentation, misconduct… we’re going to avail of that provision of the law where we have to file a relief of judgment,” he said.

“We have to prove to the judge there’s fraud, misrepresentation and let the judge know what really happens and let us see if he will maintain his order,” Quiambao said.

He said the relief of judgment can be availed of from the same judge that decided on the case, or later, they can go to the Court of Appeals for the annulment of the decision.

Mr. Quiambao blames the Provincial Legal Officer, Geraldine Baniqued, who represented the municipality as its counsel, “why she did not file any appeal or motion for reconsideration or new trial within the reglementary period”.

He said Baniqued again received copy of the motion for writ of execution on July 18, 2016 but again did not file any opposition, comment or responsive pleading.

“Considering that you were representing the municipality of Bayambang, why were we not given the courtesy of being informed of those two incidents being the new mayor of Bayambang so that we could have taken the proper action?”, Quiambao said in his letter dated Aug. 16 to Baniqued.

Quiambao said she wants Baniqued to explain why she should not be subject for possibly administrative or criminal case.

The Bayambang Central School houses Gabaldon buildings, which under the heritage law, provides that structures fifty years older shall be presumed to be important cultural property. (Tita Roces)

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