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A Cebu City Regional Trail Court denied for lack of merit the petition of Oriental Port & Allied Services Corp. to stop the Cebu Port Authority from allowing cargo vessels to use the facilities of Cebu South Harbor and Container Terminal Corp.
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Cebu City RTC Branch 20 presiding judge Leah Geraldez denied OPASCOR’s plea for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against CPA general manager Francisco Comendador III and CSHCTC
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The court said OPASCOR failed to demonstrate a “clear and unmistakable legal right” requiring judicial protection
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OPASCOR also failed to establish urgency and irreparable damage
A Cebu City Regional Trail Court (RTC) has denied the petition filed by Oriental Port & Allied Services Corp. (OPASCOR) to stop the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) from allowing cargo vessels to use the facilities of Cebu South Harbor and Container Terminal Corp. (CSHCTC) for lack of merit.
In an eight-page order issued September 25, Cebu City RTC Branch 20 presiding judge Leah Geraldez denied OPASCOR’s plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction against CPA general manager Francisco Comendador III and CSHCTC.
OPASCOR operates Cebu International Port (CIP) at the Cebu baseport while CSHCTC operates a private commercial container and break bulk port in Talisay, Cebu.
OPASCOR asked the court to stop CPA and Comendador from allowing any berthing, docking or unloading at CSHCTC without showing an emergency, necessity, or congestion at the government’s port, which is CIP.
Comendador has been placed under a 60-day preventive suspension on August 20, 2026 by the Office of the Ombudsman following the case filed by OPASCOR.
READ: Cebu Port Authority GM seeks suspension reversal
OPASCOR also asked the court to stop CSHCTC from accepting, accommodating, berthing, docking, unloading, and/or handling foreign vessels and/or foreign cargoes at its private port and operating as a general cargo port, without a written order from CPA.
OPASCOR in its complaint claimed that CPA allowing CSHCTC to accept any vessel in its facility violated Section 4 of CPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 02-2010 and the terms and conditions of CSHCTC’s permit to operate/certificate of registration as a cargo handling service provider.
Under Section 4 of AO No. 02-2010, a private commercial port should not operate as a general cargo port, must not duplicate an equally functional facility or service adequately provided by the nearest government port or existing private port authorized by CPA, and is obligated to accommodate spill over demand from government ports when deemed necessary by CPA.
No clear legal right
The Cebu City RTC in its order said OPASCOR failed to demonstrate a “clear and unmistakable legal right” requiring judicial protection.
The court said it has to “make a finding” that CPA violated AO No. 02-2010 and that CSHCTC is acting beyond the terms and conditions of its permit to operate before it can determine whether a writ of preliminary injunction should be issued.
“These matters, however, are very much disputed not only in this case but also in the compliance review pending before the DOTr [Department of Transportation]. Thus, OPASCOR has failed to establish the first requisite for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction,” the order read.
Urgency and damage
The RTC also said OPASCOR failed to establish urgency. The court noted that OPASCOR itself stated that Maersk Filipinas Inc. had transferred its foreign cargo operations to CSHCTC in July 2024 but the operator only sought injunctive relief more than two years later.
Moreover, the court said OPASCOR failed to establish irreparable damage.
“Damages are irreparable within the meaning of the rule relative to the issuance of injunction where there is no standard by which their amount can be measured with reasonable accuracy,” the order stated.
The court noted, however, that OPASCOR already in its petition “laid out in plain financial terms the alleged harm it suffered from the defendants’ actions,” including declining revenues, reduced cargo volume, and lower remittances to CPA.
“Lastly, the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction would effectively result in the determination of the merits of this case before the holding of a full trial,” the court said.
Relatedly, the Office of the Ombudsman has placed Comendador under preventive suspension for six months over allegations of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty, stemming from OPASCOR’s case.—Roumina Pablo
