MANDECOR seeks dismissal of LGU Naga’s petition

Manubay Agro-Industrial Development Corporation (MANDECOR), respondent in the petition for determination of just compensation with prayer for issuance of writ of preliminary injunction filed recently by the City of Naga (Civil Case No. 2019—0146) has asked the dismissal by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 62 of the petition, for “lack of cause of action.”

In a six-page motion dated December 11,2019 filed by lawyer Norman P. Barrosa, MANDECOR, pointed out that Naga City’s petition merely asks for a just compensation, “which is not even alleged nor prayed that the same will be delivered to the respondent property owner as payment for the subject property.”

The motion also argued that the petition is “bereft of any allegation or mention of the mode of acquisition by the city of Mandecor’s property used as Fr. Phelan Road, thus there is no claim of expropriation in the petition.”

The movant further argued that the petition: a.) Has no legal basis in asking the court to determine just compensation for a property not being expropriated; b.) Shows that respondent was not paid because of disagreement on the price. No expropriation case was ever filed nor an ordinance was enacted by the city council to authorize the expropriation of the subject property; and c.) Violates the provisions of the Local Government Code, in situations where expropriations by Local Government Units are already governed by the provisions of R.A 7160.