State-run Government Service Insurance System said Friday it regained possession of a prime property in Pasay City which had been occupied by the Gloria Maris Shark’s Fin Restaurant for 12 years.
GSIS said the restaurant was evicted from its property after years of refusing to turn it over to the fund despite long-standing orders from the Regional Trial Court, Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
Pasay RTC Branch 118 issued a writ of execution on July 15, 2022 and notice to vacate dated Aug. 3, 2022.
The eviction process, carried out from Sept. 12 to 14, was orderly and peaceful. The Pasay RTC released the certificate of turnover to GSIS on Sept. 14, certifying that the sheriff “turned over the control and possession of the disputed property to GSIS”.
“After 12 years, the law has finally allowed us to recover the GSIS property through due process, and we are now free to utilize the property for the interest of our members and pensioners,” said GSIS president and general manager Wick Veloso in a statement.
Veloso said the lease contract between GSIS and Gloria Maris Pasay only covered the period Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2007. Although the contract was not renewed in 2007, GSIS allowed the restaurant to continue using the property on a month-to-month lease from 2007 to June 2010 to give it sufficient time to relocate its business and cater to advance bookings.
When the supposed termination of the month-to-month lease in June 2010 came, Gloria Maris Pasay refused to surrender the property to GSIS. Instead, it filed a case against GSIS and asked the court to extend the lease period by at least five years.
The Regional Trial Court, Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court decided in favor of GSIS and ruled that after the termination of the lease contract, Gloria Maris’s demand to fix a longer lease period was misplaced.
Despite the 2019 ruling by the Supreme Court, Gloria Maris Pasay still refused to turn over the property to GSIS.
GSIS said that after Gloria Maris Pasay repeatedly ignored the demand letters to vacate and surrender the property, it was constrained to file an ejectment case against the restaurant.