Rallos family wants SRP lot auction

THE Rallos family called on the Cebu city government anew to settle the P133 million they said was owed to them for a family lot in barangay Sambag II that was expropriated for a road in 1963.

“We are very happy. Everything that the city did in order not to pay us was denied by court,” said Roy Rallos in response to a Jan. 26 ruling by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge James Himalaloan.

The judge denied the city’s motion for reconsideration, which sought the annulment of a previous court decision that mandated them to pay the amount to the heirs of Rev. Fr. Vicente Rallos.

Himalaloan said he found no meritorious ground to rescind his previous ruling.

If the city declines to pay, Roy said its properties can be auctioned to satisfy its dues to the family.

Roy said he wouldn’t want any property to be auctioned other than the 9.7 hectares of the South Reclamation Project (SRP).

“I want a lot that attracts buyers. SRP is my target,” said Rallos, one of 40 Rallos claimants.

He said their family will definitely not pay the indemnity bond that the sheriff mandated them to pay for the auction to push through.

“We don’t have a transaction with Filinvest. You’ll know our next move,” Roy said.

A portion of the SRP was placed under public auction after the city government refused to settle the claim of the Rallos family.

But the family needs to put up an indemnity bond of P1.2-billion sought by Filinvest Land Inc.

The amount represents Filinvest’s development costs for the lot, part of a P25-billion joint venture (JV) agreement with Cebu City.

The money will be set aside in case Filinvest seeks legal action in the future.

The city presented a convenio or an old court document, which supposedly proved that the Ralloses donated the property to the city government in 1940.

But Judge Himalaloan said the agreement is not a supervening event that transpired after judgment of the Rallos lot case which became final and executory.

The city, through former Cebu City councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, discovered last July 2011 an old convenio or a compromise agreement between feuding descendants of the Rallos family in the 1940s.

The compromise involved donating the road in Sambag II to the Cebu City government. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol