BAGUIO CITY—The Regional Trial Court Branch 5 here has issued a writ of preliminary junction that prevents the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio and the city government from conducting a month-long Christmas bazaar at the Melvin Jones Grandstand here, until at least Jan. 1, 2017.
HRAB and the city were going to use the bazaar as a fundraiser to help them defray the costs of hosting the Miss Universe beauty pageant, which visits the city on January 18.
In a six-page order, Judge Maria Ligaya V. Itliong Rivera ordered petitioner Elena Lao to post an additional bond of P2 million above the P50,000 she posted for asking for the restraining order that would effectively prevent the bazaar from operating during the lucrative Christmas season.
Lao, whose family operates a chain of stores here, petitioned that operating the bazaar violates a standing ordinance that regulates trade fairs in the city.
The court agreed with Lao, saying Resolution No. 294, series of 2016 that allowed the Christmas bazaar at Melvin Jones violates the provisions of Ordinance No. 13, series of 2012.
Section 2 of that ordinance states that Baguio regulates trade fairs in the city by not allowing them to exceed 15 days long, and the fairs must be held “in suitable private places only.”
While the ordinance does not define what a trade fair is, Judge Rivera said the persons who crafted the ordinance referred to the Christmas bazaar as a trade fair during their deliberations last November 21, when they approved HRAB’s request to conduct the bazaar.
The court also pointed out the Christmas bazaar violates Executive Orders 695 and 224 issued by then-President Fidel V. Ramos for the administration, management, maintenance and operation of the whole Burnham Park reservation, which includes the Jones grandstand area.
To use any part of Burnham Park, the Secretary of Tourism must approve it first, EO 695 stipulates. Any income from activities inside the park could also only be used for its operation and maintenance, with net profits shared equally by the city and the Philippine Tourism Authority.
In that sense, running the bazaar to raise funds for the city’s hosting of the Miss Universe pageant runs counter to the executive order, Rivera added.
“First and foremost, it was the City Council that approved the trade fair ordinance, thus they must be the first to uphold it, and if the rare opportunity of hosting the visit of the Miss Universe will be used to disregard the law, there would be disorder,” the judge wrote.
Lao, the petitioner, claimed she stands to lose business opportunities if the bazaar could proceed, and that she and all the residents of Baguio and visiting tourists “will be deprived of the use of the place as a public park, a damage not quantifiable by any monetary consideration.”