Butuan trader accuses JG Summit's Gokongwei of robbery

BUTUAN CITY — A trader from this city has filed “robbery" charges against Lance Gokongwei, president and chief operating officer of JG Summit Inc., and 22 other persons for allegedly taking possession of the heavy equipment owned by the local businessman. Engr. Sergio Pascual of Doongan in this city filed before the city prosecutor’s office on Jan. 19 a six-page complaint against Gokongwei and 22 others including James Go, deputy chief executive of Robinson’s Land Corp., and former Butuan City Councilor Salvador “Benjie" Calo. A criminal complaint is filed by a private citizen but the prosecutor decides if there is probable cause to file a criminal information in court. Pascual, a contractor and businessman, accused Gokongwei and the other respondents of allegedly taking possession of the heavy equipment Pascual owned and kept at a restricted area along J. C. Aquino Avenue here around midnight on Jan. 14, 2011. GMANews.TV contacted JG Summit Holdings Inc. on Thursday and corporate communications manager Viveca Singson said the Gokongwei-led conglomerate has not yet received a copy of the complaint as of this posting. Robinsons Land is the real estate arm of Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings Inc. — a conglomerate involved in consumer foods, agro-industrial and commodity food products, textile, telecommunications, petrochemicals, air transportation, and financial services. According to Pascual's complaint, the respondents in the case (National Prosecution Service Docket No. XIII-0I-MUV-11A-00243), through their “operatives," allegedly took over the land where he had kept the heavy equipment. Pascual said he used to own the 1.1-hectare land that was covered by transfer certificate of title (TCT) No. RT34202, but was denominated as TCT No. RT42190 after it was foreclosed by First Consolidated Bank of Bohol Inc. (FCB). The land, aside from being a storage area for his construction firm’s heavy equipment, is also the location of the office of the Mindanao Cavaliers security agency and the house of worship of a Protestant missionary, Pascual said. He assigned security personnel to the area to guard his properties. Clean, legal, valid title According to Robinsons Land's corporate communications group Wednesday, the company purchased the property from FCB of Bohol. "It has a clean, legal and valid title over the said property." But records from the Butuan City Regional Trial Court IV showed that Pascual had filed a “usury" case against FCB on June 3, 2005 questioning the interest rates, fees, and other charges imposed by the bank that were allegedly not stated in their original loan agreement. The Butuan City Regional Trial Court Branch IV confirmed that the case that Pascual filed against FCB is still under litigation. FCB-Butuan branch manager Apolinario Cayomo Jr. confirmed that they have sold the property — contested by Pascual — to Robinsons Land. Cayomo explained that the land was already foreclosed and was thus already owned by the bank, which had the right to sell the property to the Gokongweis. “I can’t answer other questions because it was not my time yet when these things happened," Cayomo said in an interview Thursday. He said the foreclosure was done during the tenure of a previous bank manager. Barricaded land According to the complaint of Pascual, some 20 security guards arrived in the contested property around midnight of Jan. 14. The armed guards, headed by Eduardo Iran, one of the respondents in the complaint, allegedly barricaded the area with barbed wires. Iran allegedly told Pascual's two security personnel to leave the area without taking anything with them. In an interview Thursday, Pascual said “FCB sold the property even if it knew there is a pending court litigation. Even if Robinsons has the title and already named it as Robinsons property, they can't just go there and harass my men without court order." – With a report by Jesse Edep/MRT/VVP/VS, GMANews.TV