RTC denies TRO vs. Capitol parking fees

CEBU - The Regional Trial Court has denied the temporary restraining order requested by the Cebu Lawyers for Unity and Brotherhood Inc. and lawyer Elias Espinosa against the collection of parking fees in the Capitol Compound.

RTC Branch 17 Judge Silvestre Maamo Jr. also denied their request for an injunction against the security camera installed near the Integrated Bar of the Philippines building in the compound.

Maamo said a TRO and writ of preliminary injunction will run counter to the well-settled rule that the laws, ordinances and official acts of the local government unit are presumed to be valid unless and until the courts declare the contrary in clear and unequivocal in terms.

Maamo said that the prevailing rule is that the courts should avoid issuing a writ of preliminary injunction and TRO, which would in effect dispose the main case without trial.

“In the present case, it is evident that the only ground relied upon by plaintiffs for injunction relief is the alleged patent nullity of the subject ordinances and the official acts of the respondents. If the court will issue the desired writ, it would be a virtual acceptance of the plaintiffs claim that the imposition of parking fees is patently invalid or at the very least that the subject ordinances are of doubtful validity or the act of the defendant, provincial governor of Cebu, authorizing the installation of the CCTV camera illegal. There would be in effect a prejudgement of the main case and a reversal of the rule on the burden of proof since it would assume the proposition which plaintiffs are duty bound to prove and show its merits,” Maamo said.

The fees were started last September after the Capitol passed a resolution approving the collection of parking fees on vehicles parked in the Capitol parking area.

Motorcycle owners have to pay P10 for the first two hours and P5 for every succeeding hour, car owners P20 for the first two hours and P10 for every succeeding hour while buses are charged P40 for the first two hours and P20 for every succeeding hour.

But the CLUB asked the RTC stop the Capitol from continuing to collect its parking fees and from operating its surveillance camera outside the IBP building. – Jasmin R. Uy/BRP   (THE FREEMAN)