The Court of Appeals (CA) has issued a writ of injunction on several court orders in connection with the development of a Philippine property in Nampeidai district in Tokyo, Japan.
In a five-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and concurred in by Associate Justices Ramon Bato Jr. and Rodil Zalameda, the CA’s First Division granted the petition for application for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction filed by the government through Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez and Bids and Awards Committee for Nampeidai Property Development Project chairman Carlo Carag.
“Accordingly, let a writ of injunction issued effective immediately, enjoining the court a quo, its agents and all persons acting for and on its behalf, from implementing the assailed orders dated February 17, 2012 and April 2 , 2012, as well as the writ of execution of April 2, 2012,” the ruling stated.
The CA had earlier issued a 60-day temporary restraining order stopping the Pasay City Regional Trial Court from enforcing its decisions ordering the Philippine government to deal directly with Masahiro Nagayama as lead partner and manager of Nagayama Taisei Corp. (NTC).
The petition sought for the issuance of a TRO against the writ of execution issued by the Pasay City RTC in favor of Nagayama on Feb. 17, 2012.
The Philippine government claimed the lower court acted with grave abuse of discretion when it issued the ruling compelling the government to deal with the NTC.
The NTC was the winning bidder which presented a 1.7-billion yen offer to construct the property and pay the Philippine government an additional 480-million yen.
The bidding was done based on Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The earlier ruling of the CA cited some issues such as the non-existence of the service development agreement the government entered into with Masaichi Tsuchiya, among others.
In justifying its petition for injunctive relief, the government asserted that  it has a clear and unmistakable right not to be subject of injunction in a government infrastructure, among others.
In its new ruling, the CA said “prudence dictates that the vital issues such as the validity of the cancellation of the Notice of Award dated October 13, 2005, the termination of the SDA and the supplemental agreement dated August 14, 2006 and March 13, 2008, respectively, the existence of the purported consortium, the NTC, among others, ought to be threshed out first.”
The CA added “it will not be able to perform its bounden duty to thoroughly examine the same, thereby rendering the remedy of appeal practically useless, if appellant GOP (Government of the Philippines), to its prejudice, will be eventually compelled to execute a new SDA on the strength of the assailed writ of execution dated April 2, 2012 in favor of NTC and appellee Nagayama.”            

Had it not been for the alert operatives of the Bureau of Customs Intellectual Property Rights Division under Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Danilo Lim, millions of counterfeit and about to expire, if not expired, illegally imported medicines could have flooded the local market.
Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said one 40-footer container van was seized at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) containing 20 pallets of fake and/or expired medicines of various brands consigned to Mountain Glory Agri Sales Corp.
Upon verification of the consignees’ accreditation with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), it was found that Mountain Glory Agri Sales Corp. had no license to operate and to import medicines in violation of Republic Act 8293 or the Intellectual Property Rights Law in relation to RA 9711 or the Food and Drugs Administration Law.
“This is a big haul for the Bureau of Customs not only in terms of otherwise foregone revenues but, more importantly, because of the countless Filipino lives that could have been saved by this seizure,” Biazon said and at the same time lauded the IPRD operatives under lawyer Zsae Carrie de Guzman for their accomplishment.
The seized medicines include Simvastatin, Centrum Multivitamins, Perigo (Ibuprofen), and Amoxycillin among other medicines.
The IPRD operatives got suspicious over the shipment when they found out that the van supposedly containing the medicines was a dry container van with no temperature control.
For his part, Lim stressed that his group’s enhanced anti-smuggling initiatives are paying off. The IPRD also seized millions of pesos’ worth of smuggled cigarettes recently, also at the MICP.
“We will aggressively pursue this smuggling attempt and find out who are those involved in this, and we shall recommend the filing of appropriate charges against them,” Lim said.                 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)  on Monday said no passport will be issued to former police officer and fugitive double murder suspect Cezar Mancao, who is reportedly planning to flee the country.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez also assured that all mechanisms are in place to ensure that Mancao will not be able to obtain a passport even under a fictitious name or assumed identity.
“Cezar Mancao is currently on our lookout list. We will not issue him a passport until the case against him is dismissed or if he is acquitted,” Hernandez told a press briefing.
Mancao, a suspect in the twin killings of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, escaped from detention at the National Bureau of Investigation on May 2.
Hernandez said Mancao does not have an existing valid passport as it has been cancelled by the DFA after he was charged in court.
He said the DFA is strictly implementing measures to make sure that all applicants are identified.
“We are making sure that all applicants are identified accurately so that people who are barred from leaving the country will not be able to secure a passport under an assumed identity,” Hernandez said.