Drugstore chain scion loses bid on shares transfer

A scion of the family which owns Mercury Drug Corp., the country’s biggest drugstore chain, lost  his bid questioning the transfer of his shares worth about P300 million in several family-owned companies.

In a ruling, the appellate court affirmed the Jan. 13, 2009, decision of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 90 Judge Reynaldo Daway junking Martiniano Que’s petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop his father, Mercury Drug founder Mariano Que, from implementing a settlement agreement they entered into in 1994.

Apart from the clan’s patriarch, also impleaded in the case was Martiniano’s sister, Vivian Que Azcona, listed by  Forbes magazine as among the 40 richest Filipinos with a net worth of about $555 million.

In his petition, Martiniano accused Daway of committing grave abuse of discretion after the judge threw out his application for a TRO and/or writ of preliminary injunction against his father and sister.

But the appellate court said the petitioner failed to prove that his father and sister’s actions would violate his legal rights that ought to be protected by an injunctive order he was seeking.

The ruling was signed on Sept. 15  by Associate Justice Amelita Tolentino. Agreeing with Tolentino’s opinion were Associate Justices Normandie Pizarro and Rodil Zalameda.

“In the absence of a clear legal right, the denial of the injunctive writ does not constitute grave abuse of discretion,” read a portion of the decision.

The court stressed that the “possibility of irreparable damages without proof of actual existing right is not a ground for the issuance of either a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction.”

“Therefore, it is not sufficient for petitioner Martiniano Que to simply harp on undue and irreparable damage or injury he would suffer if his prayer for temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction is not granted,” it added.

The family’s legal squabble started when Martiniano petitioned the Quezon City RTC in May 2008 to issue a declaration of nullity of agreement, assignments, transfer and conveyance involving a deal he had with his father on Feb. 11, 1994.

He also sued his father and sister for damages and asked the court for the restoration of shares, interests, participation in the stock and transfer books in the family corporations.

In the 1994  agreement, Mariano was supposed to buy his son’s shares and interests worth  P300 million in the family-owned businesses.

Martiniano claimed he did not receive the payment after he signed the agreement.

His father denied the  allegation, saying  Martiniano had been given the amount in full.