City asks court to deny motion on Kawit project

CEBU, Philippines — For lack of merit, the Cebu City Government is asking the court to deny the motion for reconsideration filed by Barangay Busay Councilman Amilo Lopez who wanted to stop the P18-billion integrated resort and casino project.

In a 16-page comment, the city, through the Office of the City Attorney, said the court correctly held that the Universal Hotels and Resorts, Inc. (UHRI) is equipped with the needed technical and financial capacity to undertake the project which is contrary to what Lopez had claimed.

“The Honorable court correctly held that a taxpayer’s suit, the party suing as a taxpayer must specifically prove that he has sufficient interest in preventing the illegal expenditure of money raised by taxation,” read a portion of the motion.

The city cited three grounds for the denial of the motion for reconsideration filed by Lopez after the court earlier dismissed his prayer for an injunctive relief.

First, the city said the UHRI is the one undertaking the P18-billion development on city’s Kawit Island at the South Road Properties, which means the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the firm and the city does not involve the disbursement of public funds.

It also reiterated the earlier ruling that Lopez does not have the requisite standing to file the instant petition.

Second, the city agreed with the court in dismissing the petition because of forum shopping.

Aside from Lopez case, a separate case was filed in Branch 10 docketed as Civil Case No. R-CEB-18-05557-CV on August 17.

The case, seeking to nullify the resolutions of the City Council, was filed by the eight opposition-allied councilors Jose Daluz III, Jocelyn Pesquera, Raymond Alvin Garcia, Pastor Alcover Jr., Erik Miguel Espina, Joel Garganera, Renato Osmeña Jr. and Eduardo Rama Jr.

Both cases question the validity of the resolution and the legality of the JVA between the city and the UHRI.

Third ground cited by the city is that the court correctly held that the issues on the validity of the resolutions passed authorizing the mayor to sign the agreement are cognizable by the proper executive agency.

“The court correctly dismissed the petition on the ground that issues on parliamentary rules are outside of the court’s concern and jurisdiction,” the city’s comment reads. —/GAN (FREEMAN)