Arrest Charito Planas, Pasay court orders

Nayong Pilipino Foundation Inc. (NPCI) Executive Director Charito Planas was held in contempt of court and ordered arrested Thursday afternoon by a Pasay City Regional Trial Court judge for defying a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the eviction of some 50 park concessionaires.

Planas immediately posted the P6,000 bail after receiving the warrant of arrest issued by RTC Branch 117 Judge Henrick Gingoyon.

The concessionaires filed a motion for contempt Thursday morning after Planas went ahead with the park’s closure last Tuesday as stated in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

Gingoyon earlier granted the concessionaires’ petition for a TRO against their eviction. The order is effective from June 22 to July 11. A hearing for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction is set on July 10.

‘The court granted our motion for contempt which only means that it upheld our stand that the TRO was to stop the concessionaires’ eviction by closure of the park," said lawyer Oliver Lozano, who represents the concessionaires.

The NPFI agreed to transfer possession of 8.6 hectares of park land to MIAA to give way to the construction of a dual taxiway for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. Planas said the NPFI agreed to cede the land to MIAA in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. Eighty-percent of the 31-year-old park will also be obliterated, resulting in its inevitable closure, Planas added.

Lozano further argued that the MOA signed by Planas and MIAA General Manager Edgardo Manda was illegal for lack of prior authority of the President under Presidential Decree 37, which created the NPFI.

Planas, however, said President Arroyo has already signed Thursday the Executive Orders allowing the transfer of possession of the park’s land to MIAA as well as the one-and-a half month compensation package for the park’s 60 employees forced to retire by its closure.