CA lifts TRO on Negros Occidental property awarded to Ayala Land

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – The Court of Appeals Twentieth Division in Cebu City has lifted the 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) it had issued against Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and provincial government officials on the negotiated sale and lease of its 7.7-hectare prime property in this city to Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI).

The TRO, which is supposed to end Oct. 4, was granted to SM Prime Holdings which had opposed the awarding of the negotiated sale and lease to ALI, claiming it was the winning bidder to the property.

The TRO had prevented the provincial government officials from signing the contract with ALI, which proposed to develop the property with about P6 billion in investments.

The dispositive portion of the Court of Appeals’ order promulgated Sept. 6 states that it denied SM Prime’s prayer for preliminary injunction, and lifted the TRO it issued on July 27.

The order also directed SM Prime and the provincial government officials to submit their respective memoranda within 15 days after which it will be deemed submitted for decision.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Victoria Isabel Paredes and concurred in by Associate Justices Edgardo de Los Santos and Ramon Paul Hernando.

SM Prime had refused to join the negotiated bidding on July 15, saying it had won in the second bidding on July 7 since it supposedly entered a higher bid than ALI.

But the provincial government’s committee on awards had declared the July 7 bidding a failure, saying both SM Prime and Ayala Land had failed to meet the floor price for the property approved by the Commission on Audit.

After the committee declared Ayala Land as the winner in the July 15 negotiated bidding, SM Prime sought the TRO to halt the negotiated sale and lease.

The appellate court order is believed to pave the way for the capitol to proceed with the sale and lease of its property.

The deed of conditional sale with Ayala Land as approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan involves the sale of 36,587 square meters of Capitol lots totaling P750.033 million.