By Gerome M. Dalipe, Linette C. Ramos and Rebelander S. Basilan
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
JUDGE Soliver Peras Jr. inhibited himself yesterday from hearing the case of about 168 families from Barangay Apas, Cebu City whose houses stand to be demolished.
Peras, the pairing judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9, cited “personal reasons” for wanting to be released from the case. He declined to elaborate when reporters tried to interview him after the proceedings.
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“Considering that portions of the camp, as indicated by court sheriff El Cid Caballes…are included in this case, the undersigned deems it necessary to voluntarily inhibit from the case,” the judge wrote in his one-page order released yesterday.
He sent the case records back to the raffle committee. Cebu City RTC Executive Judge Silvestre Maamo is expected to issue the next order to move the case forward.
In the meantime, Cebu City Hall’s lawyers are preparing to file petitions in court that will allow the City Government to be a party to the case.
At the center of the dispute is a 4.6-hectare property close to a booming cluster of office towers for the business process outsourcing industry.
The court, in 2002, declared the Godinez family the rightful owner of the property. The occupants, however, say it belongs to the government, having been declared a socialized housing site in 1999 by the City Government.
Mayor Michael Rama said that after the trial court and the Court of Appeals dismissed their motions for reconsideration, the City will move to intervene in the case.
“We have to find a way for the City to be included in this, for us to be a party to the case. There are many possible options that we can take, but we first need to get the consent of the homeowners so our actions will not be misinterpreted,” Rama said, after a meeting with the lawyers.
Benjamin Militar, counsel for the Archangels Residents Mergence Inc. (Armi), said he respects Judge Peras’s decision.
Since Peras merely “noted without action” the pleading of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Militar said they are still hoping that the next pairing judge will act in their favor and call off the demolition.
The OSG has asked for 30 days to present new evidence that the property belongs to the state.
Sun.Star Cebu tried but failed to get a statement from Roberto Palmares, counsel for lot owner Mariano Godinez.
A day before he inhibited, Judge Peras ordered two police officials to comment in three days on the court sheriff’s request for police assistance during the demolition.
The judge gave Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, Police Regional Office Central Visayas director, and Senior Supt. Ramon Melvin Buenafe, City police chief, three days to comment on the sheriff’s request.
Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said he has assigned “discernment groups” to study the plight of the Apas residents.
Palma said he couldn’t make an official statement on the matter until he receives a report from these groups.
But the residents should be allowed to protest, as long as they do so peacefully, Palma told reporters yesterday.
“In every event, people are always free to voice out their concerns,” he said.
“For me, all actions or projects or events should be seen in a context of the particular circumstances, against the background of faith,” Palma said.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 09, 2012.
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