DON’T fight City Hall.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama gave this advice to the management of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
The hotel filed a civil case against Rama, the City Council and the city’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chaired by Jose Daluz III and also sought an injunction to prevent City Hall from selling lot 917 to Hotel Asia Inc.
The more than 2,300-square-meter lot owned by the city government is adjacent to the Waterfront Hotel and Casino.
“They better be sure that they have legal basis to stand on. It (the filing of the civil case) may be a cause of conflict,” said Rama who arrived yesterday afternoon from Xiamen in China.
Rama said he will reconsider his plan to sell the lot to Hotel Asia if Waterfront Hotel will pay double the price offered by Hotel Asia which is P35,000 per square meter.
“If they double the price offer of Hotel Asia, I’ll be happy to discuss that with our lawyers,” the mayor said.
Rama also warned the hotel management of a possible counter suit if they insist on fighting with the city government.
Hotel Asia already paid half of the total lot cost shortly after they won the bidding in December 2013.
Rama is only waiting for the City Council’s authorization for him to sign the Deed of Conditional Sale with Hotel Asia.
The City Council is still waiting for a certification from the Registry of Deeds that lot 917 is free of any lien or encumbrances.