Cebu City Hall —FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY — The petition to stop the P5.5-billion “redevelopment project” of the Carbon Public Market in this city has hit a snag after a court dismissed the case filed by former mayor Tomas Osmeña against incumbent city officials and Megawide Construction Corporation.
Judge Maria Lynna Adviento of the Regional Trial Court Branch 58 did not even dwell on the merits because of supposed defects on the case, which gives the court “no authority to act hereon.”
In December 2022, Osmeña filed a case for judicial review, certiorari, prohibition and mandamus with a prayer for preliminary mandatory and prohibition injunction with Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Carbon Market project.
In her order, Adviento said lawyer Benjamin Militar signed the petition as counsel for Osmeña. At the same time, Militar notarized the verification and “certification of non-forum shopping.”
The judge cited Supreme Court cases that disallow the legal counsel of the petitioner to be the same person to notarize the verification portion of the petition.
“With the infirmity in the verification, the present petition shall be treated as an unsigned pleading, for as provided in Section 4, Rule7 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. And as such, the petition produced no legal effect,” Adviento explained.
In a statement, Megawide and its subsidiary, Cebu 2 World Development (C2W) Inc., welcomed the dismissal of the case.
C2W General Manager Lydwena Eco said they could now focus on working together for a better Carbon District.
“Carbon’s progress is visible. It’s felt by all, from vendor to customer. Why should we stop a project that clearly benefits the majority of Cebuanos? Rather than hold Cebu back, we can do more in support of its progress,” Eco said.
Through the modernization, Eco said, “the project gave vendors better facilities at the same rental rates; better police presence and overall security; more parking space; wider roads; removed literal mountains of garbage, and flooding.”
“Cebu even has new icons like Sto. Nino Chapel, Freedom Park,” she said.
“Before the project, Carbon’s reputation was unsafe and unsanitary. It was like that for decades. Most Cebuanos, including me, were deterred from going regularly despite the low prices because of the crime, the trash, the traffic and lack of parking space, just to name a few.”
Osmeña had wanted to nullify the 50-year multi-billion agreement between the Cebu City government and Megawide, citing land use terms and alleged low rental payments, which would be disadvantageous to Cebu City.
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