“ This is not yet the end of the battle. We have just started.”

This was what Bacolod City Legal Officer Aireen Bonghanoy claimed yesterday about the recent order of the Regional Trial Court Branch denying the motion to dismiss filed by the Bacolod City government in the civil case filed against it on the implementation of the new Real Property Tax Code.

The case was filed by the Chamber of Real Estate Builder's Association and Subdivision Housing Developers Association-Negros Occidental.

Bonhanoy yesterday said they will study the order of the court and decide whether they can still file a motion for reconsideration or proceed with the hearing on the application for preliminary injunction.

RTC Judge Fernando Elumba of Branch 42 in his order dated September 23, 2015 said the respondent City of Bacolod, through counsel, filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that the petitioners have a plain, speedy and adequate remedy under Section 187 of the Local Government Code of 1991, but failed to avail of the administrative remedies available to them.

The substance of their motion to dismiss is anchored on petitioner's non-exhaustion of administrative remedies, Elumba said.

In their comment/opposition, the petitioners said that the case is within the jurisdiction and competence of the court to resolve, and is studded with legal issues, on which only the court has the authority vested by law to resolve them.

Moreover, they were left with no other speedy and adequate remedy to restrain and enjoin the city from implementing the questioned City Ordinance No, 08-14-700.

Based on the petitioners' comment/opposition, the principle on non-exhaustion of administrative remedies is not without an exception, Elumba said.

After weighing carefully the merits of the arguments of the contending parties, he said, the court is of the view to lend credence to the petitioners' viewpoint.

Bonghanoy said their grounds in filing the motion to dismiss before RTC Branch 42 is that the issue discussed is the same in the petition for review they filed in RTC Branch 44.

To avoid multiplicity of suits, they are asking the court to dismiss the case so the city and the court will have only have one case, she said.

‘NULL AND VOID'

In the pending case with the RTC Branch 44 they asked for a review of the decision of the Department of Justice that declared the new Tax Ordinance null and void due to its failure to comply with the procedure prescribed under the Local Government Code or the Republic Act 7160 when enacting a tax ordinance, she said.

Bonghanoy said the main issue of all parties is the 'constitutionality of the tax ordinance.

So with the court's recent decision, the city will study first the order and decide whether to file a motion for reconsideration or proceed with the injunction hearing, she said.

Once the injunction is granted by the court, the city will immediately stop the implementation of the City Ordinance  No. 08-14-700  also known as “An ordinance updating the Schedule of Market Value of Real Properties in the city of Bacolod and other provisions relative to RPT Administration, Bonghanoy said.

However, if the court favors the city, it will continue with the implementation of the tax ordinance, she said.

Unless and until the court will declare the C.O. No. 08-14-700 null and void, the ordinance is valid,she claimed, adding that as of now, the city is collecting taxes based on the new rates, she said. That is despite the decision of the Justice Department declaring the tax ordinance null and void.

Meanwhile, RTC Judge Fernando Elumba of Branch 42 ordered the case on the application for preliminary injunction set for hearing on at 8:30 a.m. on November 24.*CGS

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