Supreme Court orders Cebu Gov. Garcia to pay P156.6 million bank debt

September 14, 2024 , 10:09 PM

By Gabriel Kim Leal

(September 14, 2024) – The Supreme Court has rejected the petition of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to block an order requiring her to pay over $2.8 million or P156.6 million in debt to a foreign bank, calling her out for using “delaying tactics.”

In a 12-page decision promulgated in December 2023 but made public only last Tuesday, the Supreme Court Second Division instructed a trial court in Makati to enforce its 2012 resolution, requiring Garcia to pay Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) $700,000 in damages, along with 12% legal interest from July 2000, and P404,560.50 in legal costs.

“Garcia failed to raise any facts or circumstances which would justify the quashal of the alias writ of execution in this case. Tellingly, Garcia can point to no specific error in the amount under the alias writ issued by the trial court. She does not even claim that the legal and accumulated interest was improperly calculated and merely objects to the ‘staggering amount,’” said the decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr.

The case dates back to 1996, when Garcia took out a $900,000 loan from HSBC to buy a cargo barge for her company, GGC Enterprises. When she failed to pay, HSBC sued her. By 2001, the court ruled that she owed the bank nearly $900,000, which was later reduced to $700,000.

In her petition, Garcia argued that the order to collect the debt, or the alias writ of execution, was issued without giving her a chance to oppose it. She also claimed that the debt was her company’s responsibility, not hers personally.

The Supreme Court, however, disagreed, pointing out that GGC Enterprises is a sole proprietorship, meaning Garcia is personally responsible.

It also dismissed Garcia’s claim that she was not properly served with the alias writ of execution, noting that the sheriff made several attempts to personally serve it at her office before leaving it with authorized personnel.

Garcia has yet to comment on the decision, as of writing.

The Supreme Court stressed that Garcia’s failure to pay her debt over the last decade made her due process arguments untenable.

“The Court notes that because of Garcia’s dilatory petitions, the five-year effectivity period of the alias writ of execution dated February 23, 2018 has already lapsed,” added the decision.

(PM)

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