The Dutertes and Ralloses fight over a cockpit

A legal battle between the dons of Cebu occurred in 1902. Those involved were Don Escolastico R. Duterte and Don Florentino Rallos, Cebu's first municipal president.

Duterte claimed that he, Rallos, and a certain Castro were partners in the management of a cockpit. Rallos denied this, thus Duterte went to the Court of First Instance. The trial court found that no such partnership existed.

Duterte appealed the ruling of the Court of First Instance to the Supreme Court. It was a battle royale of the legal eagles as Duterte engaged the services of the best lawyers at the time, he was assisted by the American lawyer, Walton J. Wood (admitted to the Philippine Bar on April 30, 1902), and Don Segundo Singson (admitted to the Philippine Bar on April 29, 1902). Don Segundo Singson was the transition governor of Cebu when Don Julio Llorente ran and lost against Don Juan Climaco. Segundo was the son of Don Mariano Singson one of Cebu's wealthiest residents, the latter was the godfather of the Baptism into the Roman Catholic Church of Don Pedro Gotiaoco (he was already of age at the time, it was a ceremony where Don Pedro was welcomed into the circle of elite citizens of Cebu). That is why Don Pedro carried the name Don Pedro Singson Gotiaoco. He later became the owner of the Cebu's first building with an elevator and airconditioning units, now preserved as the Cebu Chinese Museum, situated at the M.C. Briones Street right across the Cebu City Hall

On the other side, Don Florentino Rallos was defended by the American law firm Early and White, represented by Edward Henry White (admitted to the Philippine Bar on March 18, 1901).

The Supreme Court was not convinced of the ruling of the Court of First Instance of Cebu declaring the nonexistence of the cockpit management partnership on September 1, 1901. Taken from the records of the case was a letter between the former friends:

MY DEAR BOY: I am working at these accounts. Perhaps I will have them ready tomorrow morning. But I have no money, unless Mr. Spitz comes on one of these boats, when we will have funds.

Yours, FLORENTINO RALLOS.

In a letter dated May 7, 1902 an enraged Rallos said to Duterte that the latter accused him of being someone just short of an embezzler. The conflict was in the accounting of the operations of the cockpit, incidentally it was in dollars. The Supreme Court on September 24, 1903 reversed the ruling of the Court of First Instance and remanded the case for a new trial.