Fighting city hall

We don’t know how the court will eventually decide on the case involving the Cebu City Government and Banco de Oro (BDO), but the respite given to the bank shows that the aggrieved are not totally helpless against city hall, contrary to what the saying admonishes (“you can’t fight city hall”). The regional Trial Court (Branch 18) recently issued a 72-hour temporary restraining order momentarily preventing the city government from doing what it planned to do to BDO.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has made known his intention not to give BDO the needed permits to operate in the city, accusing it of refusing to pay the correct taxes. He used as basis the tax payment of BDO-Magallanes branch, which declared a gross revenue of only P400,000 last year. The city government has filed tax fraud cases against BDO-Magallanes.

But Osmeña’s critics see a different motivation in Osmeña’s move. For them, it is not mere coincidence that BDO’s major shareholders include the SM Group. SM Prime Holdings and Ayala Land Inc. partnered for the purchase of lots at the South Road Properties (SRP) during the administration of Osmeña’s bitter rival Michael Rama. Osmeña wants to rescind the deal.

This makes the thinking that BDO may only have been collateral damage in the conflict involving the mayor and SM believable—and the intention to close it unfair. By extension, that puts the relief the court gave to BDO, even if temporary, in a different light.

This is not the first time that the mayor has used his power to get what he wants. He reopened the Inayawan dumpsite that was closed by Rama and continued operating it despite the complaints from nearby residents and establishments and even after Environment Secretary Gina Lopez described it as an environmental hazard. He only changed course after the court ordered its closure.

That showed that, if one is in the right, one can fight city hall. It also shows that, under current circumstances in Cebu City, one can go to court and get relief if one feels unfairly treated by city hall, proving that, for all his bluster, Osmeña’s rule is not absolute.