CEBU CITY—Mayor Tomas Osmeña cannot close any Banco de Oro (BDO) branches in this city until March 6 after a court ordered a status quo on the bank’s operation.
The decision was reached after a meeting between the bank’s lawyers, city government representatives and Osmeña on Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Gilbert Moises of the Regional Trial Court Branch 18 urged the parties to negotiate and reach an amicable settlement. The court will hear the petition filed by BDO on Feb. 27.
The bank asked the court to compel Osmeña to act on its pending application for a business permit.
The mayor earlier announced that he would not renew the permit of BDO after he filed a case against the bank’s Magallanes-Plaridel branch for allegedly underdeclaring its gross annual income in 2016. He also hinted that he would close all 26 branches of BDO in Cebu City after he ordered to put on hold their applications for renewal of business permits.
The court extended to March 6 the 72-hour temporary restraining order(TRO) it issued pending resolution of the petition for the issuance of a preliminary injunction. —JOSE SANTINO BUNACHITA