Impasse over disputed property in Boracay still unresolved
The month-long impasse over a disputed property on Boracay Island remained unresolved after a court denied the petition of an Australian resort operator to block the cancellation of his lease agreement with the property owner.
In a seven-page order dated November 27, 2008, the Kalibo Regional Trial Court Branch 9 dismissed the petition for specific performance, injunction and damages with motion for the issuance of a temporary restraining order filed by resort operator Greg Hutchinson and his wife Viveca against Editha Meren.
In the ruling issued by Judge Ledelia Aragona-Biliran, the court denied Hutchinson's petition to restrain Meren from canceling the contract of lease and for taking over the 6,096-square meter property before the expiration of the current 10-year contract on December 4, 2009.
Meren had terminated the original contract including a 10-year extension until December 4, 2019 for the alleged violations including the failure of the Hutchinsons to secure the conformity of her estranged husband Claris Meren in the extended contract.
The RTC also said there was no basis to grant the petition to issue a TRO based on Hutchinson's allegation that Meren and his former sub-lessee Evangeline Dalino attempted to take over the property on October 17, 2006.
"...The court notes that it was not sufficiently shown that defendant Editha Meren did attempt to take over the plaintiff's pleased property or did she hire any body, more particularly Evangeline Dalino and her companions, to take over the resort...," Biliran said in her order.
The court has set a pre-trial conference on January 21, 2009.
The Hutchinsons had terminated the contract with sub-lesse Dalino and her partners on February 2006 for alleged violations of the contract. But Dalino has accused the Hutchinsons of illegally ejecting her from her leased property
The court issued the order more than three weeks after security guards hired by of Meren and Dalino forcibly took over the beach front property on November 5.
But the Hutchinson's have filed another compliant before the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Buruanga-Malay against the takeover.
In an eight-page complaint, the Hutchinsons accused Meren and Dalino of forcible entry and damages and asked the court to issue a preliminary mandatory injunction against the respondents ordering them to vacate the premises of the disputed property.
Meren and Dalino have filed an opposition to the complaint with counter-claims.
Dalino said in an interview in Boracay that they will not leave the premises of the property until the court resolves the case.
The Hutchinsons with their 5-year old twin children have been holed up in the third floor of their apartment building since the takeover while Dalino and Meren are occupying the ground floor and the adjacent properties. The children have stopped attending pre-school since the takeover.
Only the couple's staff leave the building to bring food, supplies and do errands for the couple. The doors to their unit have also been blocked by chairs and heavy furniture from the inside.
"We are still suffering more than a month after," said Greg in a separate interview.
Viveca said they have not left the property's premises because Meren and Dalino will not let them back.
Policemen from the Boracay Special Tourist Police Office have been posted in shifts at the resort to prevent to maintain order and prevent violence.