The 23 tenants of the Manokan Country will not vacate its premises on Friday, July 5, the deadline set by the Bacolod City government, their lawyer Jose Max Ortiz said on Tuesday.
They will refuse to leave without a court order for them to vacate the premises, he said.
“We will stop them (from enforcing the order to vacate) and if necessary we will use reasonable force for them not to close the stalls,” Reyes said.
The vendors are filing a case against the Bacolod City government and SM Prime Holdings Inc. officials on Wednesday morning, Ortiz added.
The case will seek the nullification of the city government’s lease of its property where the Manokan Country is located to SMPHI, he said.
The city government had asked the vendors to vacate the Manokan Country and transfer to a temporary site at the SM parking area set up for them rent free while a new building is being constructed.
The new building to be constructed by SMPHI will house the new Manokan Country that the tenants would have then be allowed to occupy.
They vendor’s lawyers said they would also file administrative cases for graft and corruption cases against the city officials
Ortiz said no public hearing on the matter was held.
City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said the closure order will be enforced as a court order is not needed.
The tenants were not asked to leave the Manokan Country permanently, it would only be temporary while their new building is being built, Ting said.
He said about ten tenants have no business permits as they have not updated their rental payments.*
The allegations of lawyers Ortiz and Roger Reyes are recycled and designed to mislead, Ting said.*