Punchline
More legal woes for Mr. ACC
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
BUSINESSMAN Antonio Cabangon Chua, whose bid won the MC Adore properties, must already rue the day he agreed to make a “bid” at the instance of Messrs. Benjie Lim, Tony Uy et al.
His trophy acquisition in Dagupan accomplished nothing for him. Instead, he found himself mired in a string of legal cases even before he can think of a return on his investment rumored to have reached P200 million, inclusive of his P119 million winning bid.
His latest legal battle is the civil suit filed by Mr. Leo Angeles, the same brave soul who dared file a case against former Mayor Lim over the sale of MC Adore shortly before the 2013 elections. It is the court of Judge Florentino Dumlao in Dagupan City that has jurisdiction over it. (More on this next week).
The last time I looked, Mr. Cabangon Chua managed to transfer the case filed by former JCI president Ryan Ravanzo in his capacity as secretary of the sanggunian panlungsod that earlier won a judge’s verdict that the sale was tainted. The case is now before a regional trial court in Quezon City. (The libel case he filed against The PUNCH that earlier won a dismissal from the city prosecutor, is now pending in Pasig City).
A more difficult legal obstacle facing him is knowing that he cannot dream of turning the MC Adore into a magical profit unless and until a court lifts the lis pendens already annotated on the MC Adore titles last July 7, 2014 at the Register of Deeds. I seriously doubt if Mr. Cabangon Chua’s bruited golden touch can easily do its magic this time. Tsk-tsk.
Another possible setback facing him is the imminent closing of the Citystate Savings Banks’ branch at the MC Adore building by city hall because of its continued failure to secure the building permit and pay business taxes for two years now. The city council already empowered the city treasurer to close down establishments who failed to pay business taxes. In the same vein, Mr. Cabangon Chua’s firm already filed cases before the Ombudsman against Mayor Belen Fernandez, Treasurer Romelita Alcantara and Engr. Virginia Rosario.
Perhaps Mr. Cabangon Chua can still hope for a way out of his dilemma if only Mr. BSL, who has completely disappeared from public eye since he suffered what appeared to an almost fatal stroke in 2013, would surface to defend the process that was concocted in tandem with the Judas 9 and other accomplices in the city hall and friends in the private sector.
Since Mr. Lim has not indicated in any way through anyone that he would stand by him, Mr. Cabangon Chua should already turn to his trusted employee Mr. Tony Uy, or Mr. Vlad Mata, the city administrator who helped manipulate the process and is reportedly enjoying a good life in Singapore, or any of the Judas 9 who pocketed some of his “investment” for help. But I also doubt if they can help him now.
Alas, Mr. Cabangon Chua only has himself to turn to for his predicament today since all of his cohorts in Dagupan have clearly taken his money and ran. He’s left with nothing but legal battles and expensive lawyers who, for obvious reasons, make him believe that he can still easily win his legal battles.
So, if he’s looking for a graceful exit, he can eat humble pie, cut his losses and settle for the refund of his P119-M from the city government.
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EMBARRASSMENT. What’s with the Dagupan City Council? No one seems to have heard Mayor Belen Fernandez’s declaration that she wants the city’s P16 million used to purchase the 31-hectare farmland in San Jacinto for the city’s planned sanitary landfill returned to the city by Mr. Jose Mariano Cuña, the seller.
Why the city councilors have not taken any step to even look into how the scam happened is beyond anyone’s comprehension. Dagupeños had hoped that Mr. Cuña could at least be invited to explain why he sold a property that had a pending claim before the Department of Agrarian Reform and why he failed to deliver the title to the city. To date, not one among them is moving from his/her chair to make the motion or attempt a resolution of support for the mayor’s declaration.
Is Mr. Cuña one of the untouchables in the city? Who is protecting him? Are the councilors actually a bunch of cowards who are afraid to be confronted with the truth? Or are they plainly afraid of the shadow of Mr. Benjie Lim?
The council will be a big embarrassment to the city if someone like Mr. Leo Angeles again decides to take the cudgels for the city and files a case as well if only to accomplish what the councilors, individually or collectively, cannot do what ‘s expected of them as public servants.
* * * * *
ARROGANT. The adamance of LTO regional director Jojo Guadiz to block the enforcement of Dagupan’s ordinance regulating the wearing of helmet inside the city is at best misguided for someone who is a Dagupeño.
He won’t even disguise his arrogance by dictating on the city government to coordinate the enforcement of the ordinance with him to the extent of dismissing the presence of the Dagupan LTO office at the public hearings as unauthorized since he was not the one invited.
He forgets that he is a mere functionary of a government agency and has no political nor a bureaucratic power over a local government unit.
That he has the gall to threaten the city with retaliatory tactics to block the enforcement smacks of a grossly misplaced self-importance he has given himself.
Who is the “powerful” Atty. Jojo Guadiz in the first place?
Let me refresh Dagupeños minds. Mr. Guadiz, then as city councilor, was the principal “operator” of former Mayor Benjie Lim at the city council as “Good Governance, Laws and Ordinance, etc.” committee chairman, who led the cabal in authorizing Mr. Lim to make the city pay for the 1) overpriced Brgy Awai farmland 2) overpriced streetlights 3) overpriced Malimgas Market 4) overpriced dredging machine.
Since he threatens to come to the city to show who’s boss, then he might as well explain here his “important” roles in the transactions that made the city deep in debt!
Atty. Guadiz, you are only a regional director who has no mandate except the right connections to stay in the government’s bureaucracy. That’s how important you are.
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NEWSPAPERS’ RACKET. Thankfully, RTC-Dagupan Executive Judge Caridad Galvez warned erring newspaper publications that have exploited the ignorance of the hapless public and laxity of the courts by deliberately overcharging the public using the P.D. 1079 as cover.
They were told to shape up or ship out. Translation: To comply strictly with the law or be disqualified and charged in court for blatant violation of P.D. 1079.
The first beneficiary of the court’s wake-up call courtesy of his own formal complaint for the inexplicable and unjustifiable charge of P157,000 being demanded of him, was Mr. Ashok Vasandani. Judge Florentino Dumlao of Branch 42, then the executive judge who raffled off the petition of Mr. Vasandani to Pangasinan Sunday Report, ordered the latter to charge only “P2,600” by applying the P10 per col. inch rate specified by law after noting the newspaper’s blatant violation.
However, I am informed that the publication rejected the rate and its lawyers questioned the judge’s basis for the computation. It also reportedly threatened to elevate a complaint against Judge Dumlao to the Supreme Court. Duh?
Here’s a friendly unsolicited advice to the owners, publisher and editors of the publication: Count your lucky stars that the judge did not summarily disqualify your publication and still allowed you to collect something from the petitioner, or worse, that no case was filed against you and be jailed and fined as provided by the law. I strongly suggest you don’t embarrass yourselves needlessly on this issue because the prima facie evidence of the publication’s violation is plainly there for everyone to see.
So, take the judge’s generosity and leniency, apologize to the judge and the public, and get on with the primary purpose of community journalism, and, it certainly is not about racketeering.
To my worthy colleagues in the business of newspaper publishing, if we want to continue enjoying the benefit of this law as intended, let us not give the government (the judiciary and congress) the reason and justification to amend the law. They can very well drop the requirement of publication and just allow petitioners to post their notices in municipal halls like it used to be. They can and they will if the public clamor demands it. So, careful now gentlemen and ladies!
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