THE Court of Appeals has affirmed with finality the P6.2-billion compromise agreement entered into by the state-owned Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) with Radstock Securities Limited to end court litigations involving PNCC’s unpaid loans due to the latter.

In a nine-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, the CA’s former First Division rejected the motion for reconsideration filed by Strategic Alliance Development Corp. (Stradec) and Marcos associate Rodolfo Cuenca, seeking to reverse the January 25, 2007 decision of the appellate court. Cuenca is a stockholder of PNCC and former president and chairman of the board of directors.

The CA held that the agreement is “not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order and public policy.”

It also enjoined the parties to “faithfully comply” with the terms and conditions of the agreement.

“A judgment of the court approving a compromise agreement puts an end to litigation and is final and immediately executory.  And nothing is more settled in law than that once a judgment attains finality it thereby becomes immutable and unalterable. It may no longer be modified in any respect, except to correct clerical errors or mistakes . . . . Any amendment or alteration which substantially affects a final and executory judgment, is null and void for lack of jurisdiction.” the CA declared.

In dismissing Stradec and Cuenca’s motion, the CA upheld the position of PNCC and Radstock that their motion cannot be allowed since it was filed only after the final and executory judgment on January 25, 2007.

The CA ruling rejected their plea for a full or new trial of Radstock’s collection suit, which had led to a P13-billion award by the regional trial court of Mandaluyong City. The total value of the debt has now ballooned to P17 billion due to additional penalties and interests since the date of ruling.

The CA noted that the High Court’s 2006 ruling, which dismissed PNCC’s efforts to throw out the collection suit, had already tackled the points raised by Stradec and Cuenca. It also pointed out that the Supreme Court had earlier mooted Stradec’s motion to intervene in its decision.

Presiding Justice Ruben Reyes and Associate Justice Arcangelita Romilla Lontok concurred with the ruling.

Under the agreement, Radstock, an assignee of Marubeni Corp., will receive from PNCC a “compromise amount” of P6.196 billion to settle its P2.02- billion loan obtained 26 years ago.

PNCC’s credit obligation to Radstock has ballooned from P2.02 billion to P17.04 billion due to interest and other penalties, according to documents submitted to Court.

The agreement was signed on August 17 by the respective board of directors of both PNCC and Radstock.

The payment of the amount will result in the dropping of the complaint for sum of money and damages filed by Radstock against PNCC.

The compromise amount shall be paid by PNCC by conveying to a third-party assignee, designated by Radstock, all its rights and interest to various real properties including a 10-hectare land located along Roxas Boulevard with a transfer value of only P3.82 billion.

Other PNCC real properties covered by the agreement are situated in Parañaque, Tagaytay, including the Town and Country Estate in Antipolo and a farm in Bulacan.

The agreement also obliges PNCC to cede 20 percent of its outstanding capital stock to Radstock. The assigned value of these shares is pegged at P713 million based on the approximate last trading price of PNCC shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

It also binds PNCC to assign to Radstock 50 percent of its 6-percent share in the gross toll revenue of the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) with a net present value of P1.287 billion.

In a press statement, Radstock director, Carlos Dominguez, welcomed the CA decision, saying it capped a long legal battle.

He said the compromise agreement represents a settlement of +/- 36 cents on the dollar of PNCC’s total debt obligation, a figure that is in line with accepted practice in the resolution of bad debts.

“To pay P6 billion for a P17-billion debt is very reasonable any way you look at it,” Dominguez pointed out.

“The compromise agreement came about because after the rejection of PNCC’s motions in the higher courts, the company faced strong odds of losing the case, which we had already won in the lower court,” Dominguez said.

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has accused retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and his men of lying about the abduction and disappearance of two activists from the University of the Philippines and a farmer on June 26, 2006 in Hagonoy, Bulacan.

THE Court of Appeals has affirmed with finality the P6.2-billion compromise agreement entered into by the state-owned Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) with Radstock Securities Limited to end court litigations involving PNCC’s unpaid loans due to the latter.

IT’S all systems go for the start of classes on Monday as some 20 million students will troop back to private and public schools, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Sunday.

MEMBERS of the so-called Batasan 6 are expected to return and reunite in the House of Representatives on Monday following last week’s dismissal of the Supreme Court of their rebellion case.

THE Armed Forces dismissed on Sunday the statement of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison that he is no longer connected with the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), saying that it might just be a diversionary tactic on the part of the exiled communist leader in order to avoid prosecution.