A GROUP has appealed the decision of the Court of Appeals dismissing its petition to stop the conversion of the former Army and Navy Club in Manila into a boutique hotel.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption wants to stop Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp. from demolishing the Army and Navy Club, a former landmark, and building in its place another establishment.
Group lawyer Rudolf Philip Jurado said the appellate court’s ruling was not yet final as they had filed an appeal before its 15th division.
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada supports the restoration of the American-era Army Navy Club in Roxas Boulevard and other historical sites in the capital city.
The club was founded in 1898 and was the first American social club to be established in the Philippines for the exclusive use of US military personnel and civilians, and later Filipinos.
The club was completed on April 17, 1911, and since it was established it had been one of the centers of Manila’s social life and the site of many important events in Philippine-American relations.
In a recent forum, Estrada said the restoration and rehabilitation of the club and landmarks was part of his administration’s urban renewal program.
“It should be fully restored so it can attract more tourists and business into our city,” Estrada said.
The VACC asked why the appellate court instantly dismissed its petition.
The court had ruled that the decision of the Manila City government to enter into an agreement with private entities for the development of the Army and Navy Club and the approval of the development by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines was not a judicial, quasi-judicial or ministerial action that could be subject of a petition for review before it.
The appellate court also cited the failure of the VACC to observe the hierarchy of courts in filing the petition before it instead of going through a regional trial court.
The appellate court ruled that the VACC should have filed a civil action for annulment of the contract among Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the city government of Manila, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp. and Vanderwood Management Corp.
The court did not rule on the merits of the petition, but it held that the case was “considered closed and terminated.”
