OPPOSITION MEMBERS will file another case questioning the validity of the contract signed by the Cebu City government with Gokongwei-led Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc. for the P18 billion Kawit Island development project. A Regional Trial Court (RTC) has denied the temporary restraining order sought by councilman Amilo Lopez of Barangay Busay to stop the joint venture agreement signed by Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña. Judge Generosa G. Labra of RTC Branch 23 in Cebu City ruled that the action being sought has been rendered moot and academic with the formal signing of the agreement last Aug. 17. Vice Mayor Edgardo C. Labella, a member of the opposition, said the battle is not yet over because the court has yet to decide on the main petition. “The case still remains; of course it is subject for deliberation by the court. I don’t see any problem if TRO has not been granted,” he said. Another opposition member, Councilor Jose C. Daluz III, said, “I expected that. It has been mooted when the mayor signed the contract. We now improve our complaint to questioning now the validity of the contract.” — The Freeman

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