Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday said the Negros Occidental provincial government is prepared to pay Sugarland Hotel P3.6 million agreed on in a Memorandum of Understanding before the demolition of its fourth floor 11 years ago but will oppose all other payments stipulated in a recent court ruling.

Bacolod Regional Trial Court judge Ramon Delariarte has ordered the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City governments, and their co-defendants, to jointly pay Sugarland Hotel P21.6 million plus interest for failure to comply with the MOU.

The case stemmed from the order of Capt. Panfilo Villaruel Jr., then chief of the Air Transportation Office, on May 13, 1994 for the closure of the Bacolod airport.

He decreed that the airport could not resume operation unless and until the fourth floor of Sugarland Hotel was removed as it posed an obstruction to aerial navigation.

"As far as I am concerned, if the owners of Sugarland Hotel agree, we will just go back to the previous agreement for payment of the P3.6 million as long as it can be refunded by the Department of Transportation and Communication, which was the condition set then," Marañon said yesterday.

This way we will honor the commitment of the previous administration for payment of the P3.6 million that was approved by the Sanggunian, he said.

However, we will oppose payment above P3.6 million and will endorse the matter for appropriate legal action, he said. We will exhaust all legal means to protect the interest of the province, he said.

"If the legal battle on payment continues all the way to the Supreme Court it could take another 20 years and we all probably won't be around anymore," he said.

That is why he is making the offer to Sugarland since "we are not taking an adversarial position because we are advocating a friendly attitude toward business in line with our seven point agenda to encourage investors," he added.

Marañon said the city government will be consulted by the provincial government in its actions.

The judge noted that the airport closure drew public outcry as commerce practically ground to a standstill, thus on May 13, 1994, a conference was held at L' Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City which resulted in the signing of an MOU by Villaruel, then Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Montelibano Jr., then Vice Governor Romeo Gamboa and Sugarland Hotel represented by Felix Yusay for the demolition of a portion of the top floor of Sugarland Hotel.

The MOU contained terms and conditions defining the rights and obligations of the parties, but in the course of its implementation something went wrong, the judge noted.

Thus, the hotel, through its lawyer Reynaldo Bagatsing, filed a complaint against the Department of Transportation and Communication represented by Jesus Garcia, the Air Transportation Office headed by Villaruel, Negros Occidental represented by then Gov. Rafael Coscolluela, Bacolod City represented by Montelibano, the City Sangguniang Panlungsod represented by then Vice Mayor Evelio Leonardia and the City Engineer of Bacolod City, the judge added.

The judge ruled that the defendants are guilty of breach and bad faith in the performance of what was incumbent upon them in the MOU.

Delariarte ordered the Bacolod and Negros Occidental governments to pay Sugarland Hotel P4 million and P3.6 million plus interest of 12 percent per annum computed from May 25, 1994, respectively, representing the value of the demolished fourth floor as appraised by the United Architects Guild of the Philippines, Bacolod City chapter.

The defendants were also jointly ordered to pay Sugarland Hotel P12 million by way of unearned profits for the period that it stopped operations because of the demolition.

The defendants were also ordered to jointly pay the hotel owner P1 million in moral damages, P1 million as exemplary damages, P600,000 in attorney's fees and the cost of the suit.

The judge also ordered the DOTC and ATO to reimburse the Bacolod and Negros Occidental governments P4 million and P3.6 million, respectively, which they will pay Sugarland Hotel.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said the city had not received an official copy of Delariarte's decision yet.

Leonardia said the city and provincial government only implemented what the ATO ordered because the Bacolod airport had been closed to the detriment of the people of Bacolod and Negros.

He said the problem then was big and if they did not do anything, it would have worsened.

"I believe whatever actions were taken by the city and the province then were justified," he said.

Leonardia said he has instructed the City Legal Officer to either file a motion for reconsideration, or go to the Court of Appeals.

If there will be a judgment it will take a very, very long time, he said.

Leonardia said he is not sure if the P4 million was allocated by the city for the cost of the fourth floor because this happened 11 years ago. We have to determine if there is an existing fund allocated for it, Leonardia said.*CPG

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