Court action may drive away foreign investors — Roxas

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said that the recent attempt to close the S&R Price Membership Shopping could be a deterrent to the further entry of foreign retailers in the country.

"It makes people considering corming in here wonder about the processes or whether they as well will be subject to the same unpredictable environment," Roxas said.

The operations of S&R Price was suspended for four-days last week after a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued by a Las Piñas judge due to a case filed by Ever-Gotesco Resources Holdings Inc.

Ever-Gotesco Resources, which is owned by Jose Go, is claiming exclusive rights to operate S&R Price Membership Shopping stores.

Ever-Gotesco Resources was once a licensee of Price Smart Inc., the parent company of S&R Price Membership Shopping. The license, however, was reportedly terminated in 1998.

Ever-Gotesco Resources was able to secure a TRO on a Friday and the store was forced to close over the weekend until an order to lift the TRO could be secured the following week.

Roxas lamented the fact that "questionable procedure" was undertaken in issuing the TRO on a Friday with the judge also making himself scarce so that his action could not be reversed that same day.

"What message are we sending to the broader community," he lamented.

He reiterated that "if you are Company X and you were thinking of coming in here and you see something like this happen, isn’t it reasonable to say wait a minute, let’s study it again?"