Taguig: Plea should stay execution of CA ruling

MANILA, Philippines - The Taguig City government said yesterday the motion for reconsideration it filed before the Court of Appeals Thurday stays the execution of the CA’s July 30 decision awarding jurisdiction over the Fort Bonifacio area to Makati City.

Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano also appealed to Makati to respect the rule of law on the matter and wait for a final resolution on the case before undertaking any action or issuing any statement that will only sow confusion and tension in the disputed territory.

“With the filing of the (motion), we again would like to clarify that status quo prevails in Fort Bonifacio. Taguig will continue to exercise jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio. I assure all our constituents in the area, including the business community in Bonifacio Global City, that the local government is on top of the situation,” she said.

According to Taguig’s legal department, jurisprudence and the rules of procedure in the country’s justice system all say that the filing of a motion for reconsideration suspends the execution of a court decision.

Cayetano also lamented Makati’s efforts to create tension when the latter sent its traffic enforcers to the disputed territory apparently to make its presence felt in the area which is still under Taguig’s jurisdiction.

On Thursday, the Taguig City government filed a motion for reconsideration before the CA’s Sixth Division against its July 30 decision awarding portions of Fort Bonifacio to Makati.

The 135-page motion contained arguments to prove that the city’s claim of ownership over Fort Bonifacio is superior to that of Makati and everyone else.

Road repair

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, on the other hand, announced yesterday that the city government is earmarking P50 million to repair roads in Barangay Southside, one of the villages in the disputed area.

He said the city government intends to carry its pledge to provide better public service to the residents of the Inner Fort, Southside and Northside.

According to the Makati department of engineering and public works, the project was supposed to cover nine streets in Southside but they were only able to survey seven because Taguig barangay watchmen stopped them from completing the survey on Aug. 15.

The streets that will be covered by the concreting and drainage project are Scorpion, Garden Lloyd, Fox, Striker, Crusader, Centurion and Apag.

Binay earlier said the residents of Southside and Northside have been “apparently left out in the frenzy of development efforts on Bonifacio Global City,” which is part of the Inner Fort area.