The Regional Trial Court of Bacolod denied a second Temporary Restraining Order sought by the SM Prime Holdings Inc., and the Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan yesterday unanimously approved the deed of conditional sale and lease contract for AyalaLand’s takeover of 7.7 hectares of provincial government-owned prime property in Bacolod City.

SMPHI in an amended petition filed Tuesday before RTC Branch 50 asked that a TRO be issued against Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., and the members of the Committee on Awards and Disposal of Real Properties and SP to prevent them from carrying out the sale of the property.

But Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Estefanio Libutan Jr. on Tuesday denied the TRO saying he saw no compelling reason to depart from his July 14 denial of the first TRO sought by SMPHI, provincial government lawyer MaryAnn Manayon-Lamis said.

The Bacolod City Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday approved a resolution expressing appreciation and support for the Negros Occidental provincial government’s development plan for its 7.7-hectare prime properties in Bacolod, which it said will ultimately boost the city’s business, economic, tourism, technological and historical landscape.

The Negros Occidental provincial government has negotiated for the sale and lease of its 7.7 hectares for the development of an integrated mixed-use civic and commercial district that will combine the center of government with commercial and residential uses, while at the same time respecting the site’s heritage and history as the seat of power of the provincial government, the resolution authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor said.

The management of the Sincere chain of drugstores will seek the dismissal of charges filed by United Laboratories Inc. and the National Bureau of Investigation-Manila against it for violation of sections 155 and 170 of Republic Act 8293, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, before the Department of Justice.

Ricky Enriquez, manager of the Sincere chain of drugstores, yesterday, was that they are discussing with their lawyer the possibility of filing a motion to quash the charges filed

On July 15, Unilab and the NBI through Special Investigator Rafael Gonzaga of the NBI Intellectual Property Rights Division, filed the charges in relation to the raids conducted on seven branches and a storage facility of Sincere drugstores last month, on the complaints that they sell counterfeit Unilab products.