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THE
Court of Appeals (CAs) has issued a temporary
restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Regional Trial
Court (RTC) in Pasay City from reinstating the group of
retired Police Col. Luvin Manay to the board of trustees
of the Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association
Inc. (AMWSLAI).
In a
three-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Lucas
P. Bersamin, the CA’s Special Fourteenth Division has
restrained Pasay City Judge Jesus Mupas of RTC, Branch
117, from enforcing its December 10 order for the return
of the Manay group to the helm of the firm.
The CA
TRO was issued to the petitioners who were among the new
batch of board of trustees who were elected last
December namely Col. Rolando Cacabelos, Capt. Odelon
Mendoza and Lt. Cedric V. Reyes. The petitioners claim
the Pasay court’s order to reinstate the Manay group was
in violation of their right to due process.
At
present, the multimillion peso finance firm’s board of
trustees is composed of Ricardo L. Nolasco Jr.,
chairman and president; Thaddeus P. Estalilla, vice
chairman; Cedric V. Reyes, secretary and trustee;
Domingo E. Dimapilis Jr., treasurer and trustee; Odelon
C. Mendoza; auditor and trustee.
Likewise
sitting in the board as trustees are Antonio S. Gumba,
Ismael A. Abad, Rolando S. Cacabelos, Cesar S. Toledanes,
Morado O. Mercado and Ricardo P. Perido.
CA
Associate Justices Mariano C. del Castillo and Romeo F.
Barza concurred in ruling. The justices noted that the
application for the TRO filed by the petitioners is
“well-founded.”
The CA
ruling also restrained the respondents “from taking any
action and transacting any business in the name and
behalf of AMWSLAI” while the TRO remains in effect.
Last
year, the SC directed the Philippine National Police
(PNP) to restore order in the conflict-riddled AMWSLAI.
The SC
issued the order after the new board of trustees of
AMWSLAI filed a motion on Thursday to cite in contempt
its four former trustees and their lawyers for their
refusal to heed the Court’s temporary restraining order
issued on November 28, 2006.
The new
AMWSLAI board members complained that despite receipt
and acknowledgment of the TRO issued by the High Court,
the respondents “willfully, deliberately and
contumaciously refused to comply” with its order by
refusing to vacate the premises of AMWSLAI, at Quezon
City and Villamor Airbase, Pasay City.
In a
revised TRO issued on December 4, 2006, the Court’s
First Division specifically directed the PNP to
“implement or enforce” the order.
At the
same time, the SC junked Luvin’s group motion to lift
the TRO.
The
Court, likewise, reiterated its order for the
respondents along with their agents and staff to cease
and desist from entering the premises of the AMWSLAI
Quezon and Pasay offices, and to temporarily stop
assuming the functions and duties of the association.
The
conflict among the former and new board members of
AMWSLAI stemmed from the several complaints filed by
Col. Artemio Lim for serious violations of the New
Central Bank Act (RA 7653, revised Non-Stock Savings and
Loan Association Act of 1997, Revised Penal Code and
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rules and regulations).
Lim
accused Luvin’s group of involvement in certain
anomalous or illegal transaction during their tenure as
members of the Board of Trustees of AMWSLAI, such as
illegal withdrawal from the AMWSLAI Scholarship Fund
that was created to financially support the education of
qualified and deserving children of the members of
AMWSLAI; misappropriation of the insurance service fees
and premium refunds paid by accredited insurance
companies; grant of loans to themselves in excess of
availment limits and loan value of collaterals;
violations of rules on DOSRI loans and unliquidated-cash
advances.
Due to
the charges, the members of the former AMWSLAI board
resigned en masse and a new election was scheduled on
October 14, 2005.
Aside
from Luvin, the TRO also covers other former board
members Antonio Mantuano, Jose Elaurza, Johnson Nestor
Ocfemia and Anselmo Geronimo.
The CA
also required the Luvin’s to comment on the petition
within ten days from notice. |
