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Ever Gotesco asks high court to intervene in mall dispute

By Gerry Baldo

03/15/2009

The management of the Ever Gotesco Mall in Caloocan City has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to intervene in a dispute over the existence of its mall in the city following conflicting resolutions from the regional trial courts of Caloocan and Manila.

In a letter to Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Gotesco Investment Inc. president Jose Go said the SC should now intervene following attempts by the Caloocan City government to take over the management of the Grand Central Mall near Monumento in Caloocan City.

“Unless an immediate action is taken, a potential trouble of great magnitude that may result in injuries, even death, will arise,” Go said in his letter.

Go claimed there is an existing memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the management of the mall and the Caloocan City government which should be upheld by the city government.

Go also pointed out that a March 6, 2009 decision of Caloocan RTC Branch 126 Judge Oscar Barrientos favoring the city government to take over the mall is in contravention of an earlier injunction by the Manila RTC which prevented the Caloocan City government from taking over and closing the mall.

He said the motion of the Caloocan City government to reverse the injunction of the Manila RTC has been dismissed by the court.

Go added the contradicting rulings of the two courts should now be resolved by the high court.

He added until the Court of Appeals acts on his petition to dismiss the decision of the Caloocan RTC, the SC should issue a status quo order.

Earlier, the management of the Gotesco Grand Central Mall had accused officials of the Caloocan City government of negotiating in bad faith and of using underhanded, deceitful and two-faced tactics in trying to take over the mall property.

Lawyer Trixie Angeles, spokeswoman for the Ever Gotesco Group, related how the Caloocan City officials finalized the sale of the 22,685-sq.m. property with Gotesco on Sept. 19, 2008, only to start discrediting that very sale to tenants and lessees of the mall on Oct. 2, 2008.

Angeles said Gotesco Investment Inc. and Caloocan City executed an MoA on the payment terms of the sale last September 19, resulting in Gotesco issuing two manager’s checks amounting to P30,000,000 as down payment. Gotesco also issued 36 postdated checks representing the balance of the P182,085,078 purchase price.

The lawyer said Gotesco thought that city officials were dealing with the company in good faith as Caloocan even requested a modification in the MoA on Sept. 25, 2008 so that the 36 postdated checks would reflect the correct balance of P45,970,278.

“The city treasurer acknowledged receipt of both the P30 million down payment and the 36 postdated checks covering the balance. Thus, you can imagine the shock of Gotesco officials when they learned of the underhanded tactics being used by the city to take over the mall,” Angeles said.