[ Manila Bulletin Online ] January 12, 2009
By DEXTER A. SEE
Market dev’t plan and ordinance are valid, constitutional, judge rules
BAGUIO CITY — The Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) Branch 59 in this mountain resort city has denied a motion for reconsideration filed by groups of vendors who want to stop the proposed P1.7-billion market project here.
In a three-page decision, Judge Iluminada P. Cabato denied separate motions for reconsideration filed by the groups of vendors for lack of merit.
She declared that both the proposed market development plan and the ordinance authorizing it are valid and constitutional.
The court ruled that there is no compelling reason to reverse its earlier decision, saying the evidence submitted by the petitioners is just a reiteration of previous arguments already discussed in court and ruled upon in the decision on the case handed down in July 2008.
Cabato said the thrust of the motions for reconsideration is to move the court to reverse its decision because the ordinance in question is unconstitutional.
However, she said, the court is not impressed by the arguments by the groups, and taking them as a whole, these are direly wanting to overcome the argument that Ordinance 38-1995 is presumed constitutional and valid.
The decision stated that the petitioners failed to clearly and convincingly demonstrate that the documentary evidence submitted disproves the presumption of validity of the ordinance in question.
Furthermore, the court stated, the best arguments presented in the motion for reconsideration are merely reiteration of what had been earlier presented in the memorandum of the petitioners.
Ordinance 38-1995 prescribes the guidelines for the development of the city’s public market on Kayang St. and in the Sto. Niño compound or popularly known as Slaughterhouse Compound.
While the petitioners raised issues concerning their exemption from payment of real estate taxes and improvements introduced in the market, the court ruled that these issues were not raised during the pre-trial conference, a legal procedure in which all issues and concerns regarding the case are agreed upon by both parties.
Cabato said it would be an error for the court to make a finding in a case in which there is no actual and legal basis upon which it would make a determination of the issues being raised by the concerned parties.
While admitting that the planned development of Uniwide Sales and Realty Development Corp. will still be put on hold because of an expected appeal to be made by the petitioners, the city government is determined to introduce development in the market. This would ensure that the market, the city’s show window, would be at par with the markets of neighboring cities and first-class municipalities.