Lawyer tells court: QC wants Cloverleaf area for Ayala Land

THE QUEZON CITY government wants to close the Balintawak Cloverleaf Market to make way for Ayala Land Inc.’s P25-billion development project in the lucrative area, lawyer and former congressman Edcel C. Lagman told the court.

Mr. Lagman aired the allegations before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98, during Wednesday’s hearing on the market’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO).

The court is tackling the Cloverleaf Market Corp.’s application for a temporary restraining order against the Quezon City government. The court had issued a status quo ante order on Monday pending action on the TRO request.

Mr. Lagman told the court that contrary to the city government’s claims, the market complied with the permits and safety regulations.

In his cross- examination of city building official Isagani R. Versoza, Jr., Mr. Lagman asked if he was aware of the “ongoing development of Ayala Land Corp.”

Defense lawyer Ramses S. Samson objected because it was not even mentioned in the official’s testimony — which Judge Marilou D. Runes-Tamang sustained, saying the issues should be confined to whether or not there were procedural and safety violations for the Jan. 19 cease and desist order (CDO) to have basis.

“Let’s deal directly with the issues here. The status quo ante order can’t take that long. Limit yourself to the letter and let’s see if there was a violation really,” the judge told Mr. Lagman.

She noted that if there were really no violations, there would be no reason to order the market’s closure whatever the government’s motive.

“Let’s set aside the business interests. Whatever is the motive, we act on the case. If you say there’s no violation, show it,” she said.

Ms. Tumang also got Mr. Samson to say a closure order is not permanent, but subject to compliance.

But Mr. Lagman later hinted that the government was railroading the closure of the market when he cross-examined another subpoenaed official, markets administrator Noel T. Soliven.

He said the Jan. 19 CDO did not even specify the provisions of the statutes and ordinances violated supposedly by the market. The closure order served Friday was also addressed to MC Market, the other one ordered shuttered ( a third market voluntarily abided by the CDO).

“This will only show they are fast-tracking the closure because of the pendency of the case. They issued the order to the wrong market,” Mr. Lagman said.

Trying to point out there was no violation to cause the market’s closure, Mr. Lagman said that before the CDO was issued, the city building office wrote a Jan. 11 letter that stated the market complied with “structural soundness” and only needed additional documentary requirements.

But Mr. Versoza explained that beyond the structure issues, Cloverleaf failed to present a building permit that allowed the market’s construction in 1966, as well as the Certificate of Occupancy that procedurally can arise from it.

He said the market only submitted a 1966 repair permit, a clearance to only repair a part of the structure but not construct the entire building. At the same time, the city hall’s archives did not yield any such records.

Ms. Tamang asked why the city government only asked for the document in August 2015, to which Mr. Versoza replied that the inspecting team became an organized unit only recently.

Mr. Lagman wondered if it may be “safe to assume that when the Balintawak Cloverleaf Market was constructed, the market secured the necessary building permit,” noting the building division probably had a counterpart in 1966.

With Ms. Tamang zeroing in on the issue of the market’s safety compliance, she ordered the conduct of an ocular inspection of the market today, to determine whether a stay order should be issued against its closure by the city government.

“The Court deems it imperative under the obtaining circumstances to conduct an ocular inspection of the Balintawak Clover Market,” Ms. Tamang promulgated in open court upon adjourning the cross-examination.

The court-initiated ocular inspection will be this afternoon.

Ms. Tamang also ordered the city’s inspecting team to be present to take her questions during her ocular inspection of the 50-year-old market.

The court will resolve the TRO request after the lapse of the Feb. 8 deadline for both the city and the market to submit their memoranda detailing their arguments regarding the issue of whether the latter is entitled to a stay order.

Ayala Land was sought for comment for this story, but there was no reply as of this reporting.