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A Cebu City Regional Trial Court found Oriental Port & Allied Services Corp. showed no clear legal right, no urgency and no irreparable harm requiring judicial protection
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The court also denied OPASCOR’s plea for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Cebu Port Authority general manager Francisco Comendador III
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As a result, Cebu South Harbor and Container Terminal Corp in Talisay can keep handling cargo ships, including Maersk calls
A Cebu City court has denied Oriental Port & Allied Services Corp.’s (OPASCOR) bid to stop a rival port from handling cargo ships. The court gave three reasons: OPASCOR showed no clear legal right that needed protection, it waited more than two years to go to court, and it could not prove it would suffer irreparable harm.
On September 25, Judge Leah Geraldez of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 20 denied OPASCOR’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction against Cebu Port Authority (CPA) General Manager Francisco Comendador III and Cebu South Harbor and Container Terminal Corp. (CSHCTC). The court said the petition lacked merit.
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Why the court said no
The court said OPASCOR “failed to demonstrate a ‘clear and unmistakable legal right’ requiring judicial protection.” The judge noted that two key questions are still disputed: whether CPA violated Administrative Order No. 02-2010, and whether CSHCTC is operating beyond the terms of its permit. The Department of Transportation is also reviewing both questions.
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.
“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.
The court said OPASCOR failed to establish urgency in the petition. Maersk Filipinas moved its operations to CSHCTC in July 2024. OPASCOR waited more than two years after that before asking the court for relief.
OPASCOR said its revenues and cargo volumes had fallen, but the court found this did not prove 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.
OPASCOR runs Cebu International Port at the government baseport. CSHCTC runs a private commercial port in Talisay. OPASCOR asked the court to stop CPA from allowing cargo vessels to berth, dock or unload at CSHCTC when the government port has no emergency or congestion. It also wanted to keep CSHCTC from operating as a general cargo port without CPA authorization.
The DOTr’s compliance review of the dispute is still pending. Separately, the Office of the Ombudsman has placed Comendador under a 60-day preventive suspension. —Roumina Pablo
