Also named in the SC resolution which was dated July 8 but was only received by the respondents last week was lawyer Juvy R. Manwong of the CDC Legal Department.
The disbarment case stemmed from a complaint filed by South Korean investor/locator Kim Eung Il a.k.a. Steve Kim for “grave misconduct and grave coercion” after the CDC terminated his lease agreement (LA) with the state-run firm
and took over his Holywood Park Development Corp. (HPDC) property despite a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the local court.
The disbarment case was filed shortly after Tugade and Manwong were haled to the Ombudsman for the same offenses.
Kim is the president of HPDC. He also pioneered the hot air balloon fiesta here to drum up attention and support for the then Pinatubo devastated Clark ecozone in 1994.
According to Kim, CDC officers led by Tugade “gravely abused their authority and put the law into their own hands by physically ejecting me and preventing me from my entering my office without due process and the absence of a court order.”
TRO refused
It can be recalled that CDC officers led by Tugade refused to adhere to a TRO issued by the Executive Judge of the Angeles City RTC on the morning of January 12.
The TRO was meant to “maintain the status quo ante” ordering the CDC to “desist from entering the leased premises and taking over the operation and any further action that will be detrimental to the right of the petitioners.”
Court Sheriff Vicente Sicat Jr. tried to serve the TRO through the CDC Legal Department on the same day but it was ignored.
It can also be recalled that at around 3 pm on the same day, the CDC forcibly took over Kim’s leased premises and prevented him from entering his office. Armed security guards as well as CDC police assisted in the take-over.
To further aggravate the situation, Kim said the CDC “directly negotiated” with his HPDC tenants and entered into a new lease agreement with them despite the absence of a court order lawfully terminating the lease agreement with HPDC.
Kim’s legal counsel, Tricia S. Santos, said: “While the government has the duty and privilege to enforce the law, it should not consider itself above it.”
She said foreign investors come to the Philippines “because of the representations of the government that they can enjoy a favorable business climate in the country.”
She pointed out that “the tenants of HDPC or occupants of retirement facilities built and managed by HPDC are 100-percent retired foreigners.
“Unfortunately for them, they became witness to the kind of enforcement that CDC is capable of when heavily armed men and other security personnel suddenly showed up at the office,” Santos said.
‘Above the law’
She said: “What was clearly established from the events that transpired is that aside from the almost one-sided terms and conditions of doing business at Clark under Tugade’s administration is that CDC is not afraid of the law because it acts like it is above the law by showing no qualms in defying a direct order issued by the court.”
Kim said he is a legitimate businessman and investor in this freeport and poured in almost $8 million to develop his leased area at Holywood Park near the Sapang Bato Gate of this freeport.
He said he was a victim of selective justice because HPDC is far more developed than any other property in the area.
Kim feared that CDC singled him out especially after he agreed to organize the Lubao Hot Air Balloon Festival.
Kim filed the disbarment case at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) – Commission on Bar Discipline.
Sought for his side, Tugade shrugged off the complaints.
“That’s okay,” Tugade said. “It’s his right (to file a complaint) as much as it is also my obligation to protect the interest of the government,” Tugade added.
