By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Bacolod City Regional Trial Court-Branch 44 has junked the petition by former Bacolod City Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, former Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, and businessman Antonio Wong seeking a temporary restraining order over the release of the P1.7 billion loan the city government plans to borrow from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

In an order signed by Judge Ana Celeste Bernad last March 28, it said the petitioners’ application and writ of preliminary injunction, which is submitted in the early stages of a lawsuit, were based on purely speculative grounds.

The order stated, “The petitioners fell short in establishing an imminent or actual danger.”

“The petitioners are simply anticipating the effects of the loan on the future financial capabilities of the [City of Bacolod],” the order added.

Earlier this year, legal counsel for the group bringing forth the restraining order, Atty. Cesar Beloria, Jr., explained the civil case concerns city officials who pushed for the loan before the Sangguniang Panlungsod and officials from the DBP.

He explained, during the hearings conducted in November of last year pertaining to the loan, only a select group of individuals were invited to attend, namely city department heads, city employees, and barangay officials said to be political allies of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia.

In response to the case, Grupo Progreso, the political coalition led by incumbent Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, called it “politicking” and a scheme to “delay and stop the developments of the city.”

The P1.7 billion loan is intended to fund the construction of the proposed Bacolod MassKara Coliseum, which is earmarked at P800 million; a relocation site; improvements to Bacolod City College facilities; and the construction of roads and bridges./DGB, WDJ