Court Lifts P126M City Funds

The Cebu City government won its latest legal battle against the heirs of the late Rev. Fr. Vicente Rallos when its lawyers were able to convince the court to lift the garnishment order against its bank deposits amounting to P126 million.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9 Judge Alexander Acosta also ordered the return of a part of the South Road Properties (SRP) to the city, as well as the city’s deposits that has been tagged by the Philippine Postal Bank.

The court granted the city’s instant motion for reconsideration to lift the earlier court order.

The Office of the Registrar of Deeds has been ordered by the court to cancel the Memoranda of Encumbrances and Notice of Lis Pendens (notice of pending case) on the Transfer Certificate of Titles (TCT) of the two SRP lots.

With the cancellation of the Notice of Garnishment, the city can already use its funds with the Philippine Postal Bank, as well as the SRP lots, which is part of the Filinvest joint venture project.

Earlier, the Ralloses had successfully convinced the court to issue a Notice of Garnishment against the city’s deposit at the Philippine Postal Bank and to issue Notice of Lis Pendens on the two TCT.

City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo said with this development the city government can finally access its resources, which was tagged by the previous court order favoring the Rallos heirs.

The mayor instructed the city legal officer to immediately coordinate with the Registry of Deeds to have the records corrected in favor of the city government.

Rama said he will discuss with the city legal officer and incoming city treasurer Diwa Cuevas whether or not it is wise to pull out the funds from the bank.