CEBU City Councilor Gerardo Carillo asked the court to dismiss a petition asking the city government not to spend the P8.35-billion down payment from the sale of two South Road Properties (SRP) lots.
In his answer to the Regional Trial Court Branch 23 where the case is pending, Carillo said petitioner Romulo Torres, who filed the case as a citizen and taxpayer was “patently without merit.”
Carillo cited two Supreme Court (SC) cases that define when a taxpayer case to prevail.
For a taxpayer suit to prosper, two requisites must exist. First, the public funds, subject to the case, are derived from taxation and (2) if the petitioner is directly affected by the alleged act.
This was supported in another case, Mamba vs. Lara, which stated that a person suing as a taxpayer must show that the act complained of directly involves the illegal disbursement of public funds derived from taxation.
Carillo said those conditions were not present in the present controversy.
Torres earlier asked the court to stop the city from using the P8.35-billion down payment it received for the SRP lots saying that the 2014 resolution violates the ordinance with the sale.