Complainant against Kawit Island deal skips court hearing

Busay Barangay Councilor Amilo Lopez did not show up in Thursday’s hearing of the petition for injunction which he filed to stop the implementation of the Kawit Island Development project.

Instead, Lopez through his counsels Floro Casas Jr. and Rey Galeon asked the court to reschedule the hearing of his petition on August 28.

Lopez said in his two-page letter to Judge Generosa Labra of Branch 23 of the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City that his counsels had to make a personal appearance at the French embassy in Makati City on Thursday.

“Moreover, due to the intricacies of this case, the counsels for the petitioner (Lopez) could not secure a replacement lawyer for the scheduled hearing at such short notice,” the petition read.

Cebu City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez their petition to postpone the hearing was “unacceptable.” He also complained of the very short notice which they received from the petitioner.

Bernaldez said he only received a copy of Lopez’ request for a postponement of the hearing to another date only on Thursday morning or four hours before the scheduled hearing at 2 p.m.

“Where is the urgency? It seems very ironic for the petitioner to file for an urgent TRO when in fact they were not even here,” he added.

During his court appearance, Bernaldez pushed for the presentation of his pleadings and asked Labra to rule to junk Lopez’s petition since the Joint Venture Agreement for the Kawit Island project was already signed on August 17.

After Bernaldez manifestation, Judge Labra called for a recess and no longer set a new date for the hearing of Lopez’ petition.

Bernaldez is hopeful that Labra will already proceed with ruling on the petition.