Negros Occidental, Bacolod to pay hotel P12M for erroneous demolition

INQUIRER FILES

BACOLOD CITY — The local governments of Negros Occidental and Bacolod are paying the owners of hotel here close to P25 million in damages for destroying its fourth floor in 1994.

The Negros Occidental Provincial Development Council, in its year-end meeting on Dec. 18, approved the appropriation of close to P12 million in payment to Sugarland Hotel owned by the family of Felix Yusay in compliance with a Supreme Court (SC) order.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the provincial government has to pay the close to P12 million and the city government about P13 million after factoring in interest.

The high court earlier ruled that the top floor of the hotel did not constitute an obstruction to aerial navigation which was cited as the reason for the demolition.

“The Bacolod City government is also looking for its source of funds for payment. Definitely, the city will also pay,” said Secretary to the Mayor Karol Joseph Chiu.

On May 13, 1994, Capt. Panfilo Villaruel Jr., in his capacity as then Air Transportation Office chief and Department of Transportation and Communication assistant secretary, ordered the closure of the then Bacolod City Domestic Airport in Barangay Singcang, Bacolod.

One of the reasons he gave for the order were the presence of the third and fourth floors of Sugarland Hotel and the informal settlers around the vicinity of the airport, all of which were deemed obstructions to aerial navigation, the SC said in its Dec. 6, 2021 decision.

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Eventually, it was agreed that only the fourth floor of Sugarland Hotel would be demolished.

As a result of the demolition, the third, second, and first floors of the hotel also sustained damages. The lights were shattered as concrete debris fell on the lower floors. Even the satellite, elevator machinery, air conditioning compressor situated on top of the hotel, and the water tank were destroyed, the Sugarland Hotel owner said.

Sugarland Hotel deteriorated with the removal of the parapet at the western portion of the third floor rendering the hotel building vulnerable to natural elements such as uncontrollable flow and seepage of rainwater, which even found its way to the second and first floors of the hotel.

It was forced to close and suspend operations on Aug. 1, 1994. It took three years of major renovation and repairs before Sugarland Hotel was able to resume business.

Later, Sugarland Hotel discovered that the height of its building did not pose a threat to the safety of aerial navigation because it did not exceed the allowable height clearance of 2.5 percent gradient required by Administrative Order No. 5, Series of 1967 for domestic airports.

The 1.6 percent gradient height clearance that Villaruel demanded from Sugarland Hotel applied only to international air navigation.

In November 1994, Sugarland Hotel filed a complaint for rescission with damages.

The SC, in its decision, agreed that Sugarland Hotel’s fourth floor was not a nuisance.

“The Bacolod Domestic Airport was not covered by the International Civil Aviation Organization, but by Administrative Order No. 5, Series of 1967, which governs domestic airports,” the SC ruled.

“Thus, the 1.6 percent gradient used by Villaruel in declaring Sugarland Hotel’s fourth floor as an aviation hazard is not mandatory upon the Bacolod Domestic Airport. Sugarland Hotel’s fourth floor did not constitute an obstruction to aerial navigation and there was no compelling need for its demolition,” it added.

The SC ordered that P4 million be paid by the Bacolod City government and P3,6 million by the Negros Occidental, provincial government to Sugarland Hotel, the aggregate amount of which represents the value of the demolished fourth floor as appraised by the United Architects Guild of the Philippines, Bacolod City Chapter, plus 6 percent interest per annum computed from Nov. 21, 1994 until fully paid.

It also ordered the payment of P1 million as moral damages and P1 million as exemplary damages plus six percent interest per annum from the finality of this decision until fully paid, to be jointly and severally paid by the Bacolod and Negros Occidental governments.

The SC also ordered the joint payment of P600,000 by way of attorney’s fees plus six percent interest per annum from the finality of this decision until fully paid.