SC: Baguio gov’t contract with Uniwide to build market valid

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The Supreme Court has denied with finality the motion for reconsideration filed by the market vendors groups thereby upholding the validity of the city government’s 1995 contract with the Uniwide Sales Realty and Resources Corporation (Uniwide) for the development of the city market.

In a notice dated March 14, 2016 by Division Clerk of Court Edgar Aricheta, the high court said, “there is no substantial argument to warrant a modification of the” court’s resolution dated Sept. 2, 2015 which quashed the petition for review of the Court of Appeals’ earlier decisions and affirmed the CA’s decision dated Dec. 28, 2012 maintaining the validity and constitutionality of Ordinance No. 38 series of 1995.

The said ordinance provides the guidelines for the market development along with the award of the project development to Uniwide and the amended Design, Build and Lease (DBL) agreement, the development scheme adopted for the project.

City legal officer Melchor Carlos Rabanes said that with the finality of the decision, the city is now free to pursue actions in pursuit of its development goals with regards to the city market.   

Mayor Mauricio Domogan said that with the development, the city will have to notify Uniwide of the court’s decision and determine its plans for the project.

The company wrote the mayor in November last year signifying intention to continue the project to feature an eight-storey edifice while also assuring the company’s capability to undertake the long-shelved project.

Uniwide chair Jimmy Gow promised the city to submit a new building design, structure and engineering plan within six months to one year.  The documents will include the new cost estimates.

The original plan approved under the lease agreement forged in 1995 provides for a six-storey building with a total cost of P1.7 billion.  Uniwide will operate the upper floors for 30 years while the first floor where the main market place and legitimate vendors will be housed will continue to be operated by the city government.

                The mayor earlier assured the vendors that the development of the market will not happen outright as the city still needs to wait for the revised plans and cost estimate for the project which will then be submitted for scrutiny and approval of the city council.

After this, the city and Uniwide will have to tackle the ground preparations before the project can take off including the relocation site for the vendors at the Slaughterhouse compound.

He also assured the vendors that they will not be evicted from the city market as long as they are legitimate stallholders.

In the Sept. 2, 2015 decision, the high court quashed the petition for review of the Court of Appeals’ earlier decisions and upheld the CA’s Resolution dated March 19, 2014 denying for lack of merit the motion for reconsideration of the CA’s 2012 decision.

The court said the petitioners Baguio Marker Vendors Association Inc., Magdalaena Navarro and Elizabeth Dino failed to “show that the CA committed any reversible error in holding that (Ordinance No. 038-95) and the (DBL agreement) between the respondents City Government of Baguio and (Uniwide) are valid.

“As correctly ruled by the CA, aside from petitioners’ bare allegations, they have failed to show that Ordinance No. 038-95 is ultra vires and that irregularities attended the bidding process for the development of the Baguio City Public Market.  As such, the presumption of regularity in the performance of the functions of the officials of the (City) should prevail;

“It is settled that factual findings of the trial court, when affirmed by the CA, are entitled to great weight and respect by the Court and are deemed final and conclusive when supported by evidence on record as in this case,” the court said.

The court further said that the CA was correct in ruling that the DBL agreement is in the nature of a Build-Lease-Transfer Scheme expressly authorized under Republic Act No. 6957 as amended by RA 7718, and thus no longer needs any approval from the President.”    

Uniwide won the bid for the project costing P1.7 billion in 1995 but the development project was stalled after four cases were filed separately in 1996 against city officials and Uniwide by the Hilltop Open Market Vendors Credit and Services Corporation (HOMVECSCO) for declaratory judgement, preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order; the group of Sagayo and Gumnad et.al., the Baguio Market Vendors Association Inc. (BAMARVA) and the group of Calicdan, Dalida et. al., all for the annulment of Ordinance No. 38-1995, the award of contract and the DBL Agreement, with prayer for the issuance of a Writ of Preliminary Injunction and Damages.

        In 2008 or 12 years later, the Regional Trial Court declared the validity of the Uniwide contract and dismissed the said cases and ordered the dissolution of the writs of preliminary injunction issued initially by the court and the cancellation of the injunction bonds and denied the claims for damages by the parties.

Under the lease agreement forged during the term of Domogan in 1995, Uniwide will build a multi-storey building in the area and operate its upper floors for 30 years.  The first floor where the main market place and legitimate vendors will be housed will continue to be operated by the city government under the DBL scheme.