Will SIAM return devices whose removal silenced Bantay Radyo?
A plan to take over Bantay Radyo’s three stations in Cebu and Negros was ordered stopped by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) which issued a preliminary injunction on Monday.
The court ordered franchise owner Sarraga Integrated and Management Group (SIAM) to maintain the status quo while a civil case is being heard.
Judge Alexander Acosta of RTC Branch 9 in Cebu also ordered SIAM to immediately return electronic devices called exciters which were removed from Bantay Radyo’s three transmitters on Aug. 1, forcing them off the air.
The court action stops SIAM’s attempt to turn over management of dyDD, dyHH and dyZZ to the Cebu CFI Community Cooperative Inc.
The lawsuit is part of a battle for control of three AM radio stations managed since 2002 by a foundation of the late Cebu Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr.
His daughter, Cebu Provincial Board Member Grecilda Sanchez-Zaballero, president of PAFI Foundation, is bent on keeping it out of the hands of the cooperative, which is identified with the Garcia family, especially with the 2016 elections ahead.
The Garcia clan is fielding several family members in 2016, including Winston Garcia for Cebu governor and reelectionist Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia in the 3rd district. Zaballero is with the rival Liberal Party.
SIAM’s sudden decision not to renew the management contract with PAFI which expired on July 30 triggered the lawsuit.
The recent court order granted PAFI’s application for a writ of preliminary injunction, stopping SIAM and the cooperative from taking over control, possession, management and operations of the three radio stations of El Nuevo Bantay Radyo, including its broadcasting facilities and equipment.
The stop order takes effect after a P1 million bond is paid by the PAFI Foundation to answer for any damage or loss caused by the injunction in case the court later rules that the foundation was not entitled to the order.
PAFI earlier had to pay a P1 million bond for the effectivity of a temporary restraining order issued by the court last July 30. The judge said in its order that PAFI’s act of depositing P700,000 in the account of SIAM last April as initial payment of an extended management agreement was “tacit renewal” of the management agreement.
READ: Court asks network to return devices to Bantay Radyo | Bantay Radyo to hook up, resume broadcast
Before hearing the main case, the judge referred it to arbitration to try settle the issues among the parties.
PAFI lawyer Edgar Gica was pleased by the injunction order.
“It’s like a fight between right and wrong; good and evil. And the good prevailed,” he told CDN over the phone.
Gica said he hopes SIAM obeys the court order to return the exciters so the three radio stations can resume normal operations.
He said the main case will tackle their petition for SIAM to renew its contract with Pafi Foundation.
The Cagagyan de Oro-based SIAM is represented by its president Francisco B. Sarraga.
SIAM holds the franchise granted by Congress to build and operate the commercial broadcast stations dyDD based in Cebu City, dyHH based in Bogo City and dyZZ based in Bacolod City.
Broadcasts of the main station in Cebu City can be heard all over Cebu, Negros Oriental, as well as in Leyte and Samar.
“The contract which PAFI and SIAM was supposed to sign should have started last Aug. 1, 2015 and end until July 31, 2018. We will be fighting for this in the main case. We’re hoping to compel SIAM to sign a contract with us,” Gica said.
Asked if PAFI is open to settle the dispute with SIAM, Gica said, “Why not?”
“But SIAM should pay for the losses Pafi suffered when it took the exciters. Many contracts with advertisers and block timers were affected when the radio stations stopped its operations,” he said.
“If they want negotiations, let’s do it in good faith,” he added.
Gica stressed that Cebu CFI Cooperative should not be part of the arbitration proceedings because it has no part in the contract.
The cooperative’s lawyer Joan Largo said she would contest the ruling because it had “fatal errors”.
“I have several legal remedies in mind, all aimed at setting aside (the injunction.),” she said, including elevating the case to the Court of Appeals.
SIAM tried to argue that the court had no jurisdiction to issue an injunction against it because its office is in Cagayan de Oro City, and said the act sought to be stopped was a “fait acommpli”.
But the court declared it did have jurisdiction to hear and resolve the case since the acts to be restrained involving radio stations in Cebu and Negros Oriental fall within it are regional jurisdiction.
SIAM’s lawyer Florentino Dumlao III earlier admitted during hearings that the company removed the exciters of the three stations from the transmitter compound on Aug. 1.
The PAFI Foundation filed contempt charges against SIAM and the cooperative for defying the court’s earlier July 30 restraining order.
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