Tension up at Manila port over court order

SECURITY guards block the Manila Harbour Centre gate. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—Container trucks clogged the highway in Vitas, Tondo, as the Manila Harbour Centre closed its gates on Friday to prevent a government agency from taking over the port’s common areas.

Control over the 79-hectare Manila Harbour Centre Industrial Park (MHCIPAI) has been the subject of a legal tussle between the government housing finance agency Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) and developer R-II Builders Inc.

A recent order by the Manila Regional Trial Court directed R-II Builders Inc. to turn over management of the port area to the association of business locators that included HGC as board member.

The court order stated that plaintiffs R-II and its management group are “hereby directed to turn over immediately all common areas, utilities, facilities to the (MHCIPAI).”

Motion to quash

But Ricky Gonzaga, lead counsel for R-II who received the court order, said that (the order) was a decision on their motion to quash the writ of execution and not a writ of execution in itself.

“We’re not ready to comply with the order because we still have a remedy.  We still have a period to contest because it’s not a writ, it’s an order,” Gonzaga was quoted as saying.

To prevent the takeover by the HGC, R-II beefed up security at the port’s entrance and exit gates.

The guards quickly closed the gate when the HGC convoy arrived at 10 a.m., disrupting the schedule of cargo deliveries at the harbor.

HGC lead counsel Eric Quevedo said they were prepared to wait it out. “I have packed for this, I have a small tent. I don’t know why they would not let us in. We are lot owners and the HGC has a satellite office here,” he said.

In a text message late in the afternoon, Quevedo claimed the court had issued another order “authorizing the sheriffs to break open any gates that will prevent all the locators and their personnel and security from entering and exiting the subject property.”

Deputized PNP

He said the order also deputized the Philippine National Police (PNP) “to assist the sheriff in implementing the order to prevent any untoward incidents.”

In anticipation of the turnover, HGC had brought in 40 security guards on standby outside the gates. The guards were unarmed to prevent violence, Quevedo said.

Ten members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and a number from the Manila Police District’s safety battalion were also in the area as a preventive measure.

Quevedo said the Manila Harbour Centre Industrial Park Association Inc. (MHCIPAI), the group of business locators at the port area, was appointed in 2010 by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to manage Manila Harbour Centre in place of R-II.

The group will take over the property management of common areas, utilities and facilities, Quevedo said, adding that port operations remain under the Philippine Ports Authority and the Bureau of Customs.

Housekeeping

The association will oversee only the “housekeeping,” although it also has the right to collect dues from the business locators, the HGC counsel said.

The dues are currently being collected by R-II through its Property Management Group, he added.

“This is part of the government’s recovery from the Smokey Mountain project,” Quevedo said. “The industrial park has common areas (the taxes of which are paid for by the HGC). We should be able to collect dues for the distribution of expenses.”

Compromise agreement

But in its motion to quash, R-II said that it has already formed the rightful association of locators so there was no need for the writ of execution of the compromise agreement made in 2005.

Manila RTC Branch 24 acting Presiding Judge Lyliha Abella-Aquino, however, said that R-II “(failed) to form the association in 90 days.” The court also noted the confusing name Manila Harbour Centre Industrial Park Association Inc.

“Plaintiffs have been rebuffed several times, not only by this court but also by the honorable Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court in numerous petitions they have filed relative to this case,” Aquino said in the ruling.

“It is about time that they should give up, abide by and comply with all the legal orders, decisions and resolutions rendered not only by this court but by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.”

The defendants in the case whose position was upheld by the court were Emmanuel Gerodias, Isagani Fernandez, Kenneth Chuang, Aileen Ongkauko, Arlene Lerma, Dante Nagtalon III, MMG Corp., Sigma Cee Mining Corp., TotalPhil Corp. and Philippine Foremost Milling Corp.

The Inquirer tried several times to get the side of R-II Builders’ chair Reghis Romero II through his mobile number, e-mail and office number, but to no avail.