Two regional trial courts have issued separate rulings on the row involving father and son Reghis and Michael Romero, over the ownership of Harbor Center Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI), which operates the 10-hectare Manila Harbor Center.
Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 25 Judge Silvino Pampilo, in a decision on May 6, said the younger Romero owns majority of HCPTI, noting that the notarized deeds of assignments submitted by Michael carried “evidentiary weight” and were presumed to be regular since these were duly notarized.
But on May 5, Quezon City RTC Judge Bernelito Fernandez issued a 20-day temporary restraining order against Michael, barring him and his Harbor Center Port Holdings, Inc. (HCPHI) from performing any and all acts using, directly or indirectly the deeds of assignment dated March 2, 2011.
The March 2, 2011 deeds of assignment were declared nonexistent by the older Romero (Reghis), calling them spurious and a forgery. Reghis and his camp earlier claimed they discovered in October 2014 that Michael was allegedly misrepresenting himself to transfer the HCPTI shares to another company.
Reghis claimed his two companies R-II Builders, Inc. and R-II Holdings, Inc. remain the majority stockholders of HCPTI, contrary to his son’s claim. Reghis accused Michael and his accomplices of using fabricated deeds of assignment and “made it appear that R-II Builders, Inc. and R-II Holdings, Inc. have relinquished their majority shareholdings and resultant control of HCPTI.”
Reghis’ group filed the case before the Quezon City RTC to stop his son’s camp from “continuously misrepresenting” themselves to third persons as having the requisite capacity to act for and on behalf of the HCPTI.
“It appears that the plaintiffs (Reghis) are the lawful owners of the shares of stocks in [HCPTI]; that defendants’ (Michael) actions based on the assailed deeds of assignment may cause injury to plaintiffs,” the QC RTC said.
“HCPTI’s stock and transfer book shows no record of such deeds of assignment, or any transfer of shares of stock to HCPHI for that matter,” the elder Romero said.
However, the Manila RTC said the elder Romero’s faction did not bother to refute the validity of the deeds, which would remain effective until nullified.
Therefore, the Manila RTC acknowledged that 68.11% of HCPTI shares was owned by HCPHI represented by the younger Romero, through the two March 2, 2011 notarized deeds of assignment that were allegedly executed in its favor by R-II Builders, Inc. and R-II Holdings, Inc.
Manila RTC judge Pampilo said Michael’s camp also submitted documents that constituted “compelling evidence before the eyes of the court” that they are the current officers of HCPTI, such as certifications by the corporate secretary, tax payment receipts, and the general information sheet submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Moreover, the court rejected the claim of Reghis’ camp that the writ of preliminary injunction issued by the Court of Appeals last March 19 has prohibited Michael’s group from taking over HCPTI. The judge said the appeals court order pertained to Michael’s acts as agent or representative of One Source Port Support Services Group, which was evicted by Reghis’ faction from the Manila Harbor Center.
