PNB snatches 1,808-sqm lot in Manila from tycoon Gatchalian

The Philippine National Bank (PNB) will take over a 1,808-square-meter vacant property on Quirino Avenue, Manila after the Court of Appeals recently junked a bid that seeks to avoid the foreclosure of the property. Investments tycoon William Gatchalian, father of Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, owns property at the corner of Marcelo H. del Pilar and A. Mabini streets and Quirino Avenue, Manila. He filed the petition for review of the case after PNB's non-payment of docket fees. The case started after the Plastic City group of companies owned by Gatchalian racked up over P500 million in bad debts. PNB owner Lucio Tan and Gatchalian, who is also a hotel magnate, are in a legal battle over the control of Plastic City Corporation, where Gatchalian earned his monicker “Plastics King.” In a 14-page decision penned by Associate Justice Hakim Abdulwahid, the CA’s Sixth Division dismissed Gatchalian’s petition for lack of merit, paving the way for PNB to take over the property. “The recovery [of] PNB’s deficiency claim can only be allowed if there is a finding that the conduct of the foreclosure sale by the Ex-Officio Sheriff of the Manila RTC was proper,” the CA decision read. “The counterclaim it filed against petitioners being compulsory in nature, PNB is not required to pay docket fees,” it added. Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Marlene Gonzales-Sison and Edwin Sorongon. — BM, GMA News