Judge recalls order to put on hold SRP sale

The public auction of the 9.7 hectares of the South Road Properties (SRP) may push through.

Regional Trial Court Judge James Stewart Ramon Himalaloan recalled an order that put on hold the sale of the SRP properties.

“Considering that (the) pending incidents do not (state) the execution of a final and executory judgement, it being immutable, the order of the court in its omnibus order dated Dec. 9, 2011, is hereby recalled,” the judge said.

A portion of the SRP had been subjected to auction after Cebu city government refused to pay at least P133 million, which was ordered by the court as payment to the heirs of Rev. Fr. Vicente Rallos whose Sambag II property was expropriated for a road in 1963.

The scheduled hearing on Jan. 16 shall proceed nonetheless.

In order for the auction to proceed, the Ralloses need to pay 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 amount will be set aside in case Filinvest seeks legal action in the future.

Cebu City lawyer Joseph Bernaldez said there should be no public auction as of now.

“That (public auction) is irregular because under the Rules of Court, the Ralloses are supposed to put up a bond. If not, there can be no auction,” Bernaldez told Cebu Daily News.

Bernaldez criticized Judge Himalaloan’s flip-flop rulings on the Rallos case.

He said he deplored and was alarmed by the judge’s ruling.

Judge Himalaloan, acting judge of the RTC Branch 9 in Cebu City, earlier inhibited himself from handling two cases in relation to the case filed by the Ralloses against the city government.

He took into consideration the monthly allowances that judges received from local government units, including the city government.

Judge Himalaloan said his “judicial discretion may be questioned on the matter.”

However, he later changed his mind and opted to handle the cases.

In an order dated Dec. 9, Himalaloan also “held in abeyance until further order” the execution of the public auction.

But the judge recalled his order on the issue of the public auction.

Roy Rallos, one of the heirs, was happy upon learning that the judge allowed the public auction of the SRP lots.

He said he will participate in the bidding since he wants to own the lot apart from the claims of the other heirs.

Rallos told Cebu Daily News that he has saved P10 million for the public auction.

But the family declined to pay the P1.2-billion indemnity bond sought by Filinvest Land Inc.

The Ralloses need to pay the amount so the auction will push through.

The city government and Filinvest entered into a joint venture agreement to develop 50 hectares of the 300-hectare SRP into a central business district in 2009.

Part of the agreement required Filinvest to purchase 10 hectares and pay the city P1.5 billion within the first three years.