State-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said the pension fund regained possession of its prime property in Pasay City that had been allegedly illegally occupied by a popular Chinese food chain for more than a decade.
In a statement on Friday, Sept. 16, Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso, GSIS president and general manager, said the pension fund managed to evict Gloria Maris Shark’s Fin Restaurant from its property after 12 years.
Veloso said Gloria Maris’ refusal to vacant the property happened despite long-standing orders from the Regional Trial Court, Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court.
“The eviction of Gloria Maris Pasay from the GSIS property was warranted by a writ of execution from Branch 118 of the Regional Trial Court of Pasay issued on July 15, 2022 and notice to vacate dated Aug. 3, 2022,” GSIS said.
“The eviction process, carried out from Sept. 12 to 14, had been orderly and peaceful. The writ of execution has been fully implemented after RTC Pasay released the certificate of turnover to GSIS last Sept. 14, certifying that the sheriff ‘turned over the control and possession of the disputed property to GSIS’,” it added.
“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. Veloso said.
According to the GSIS chief, 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 its advance bookings, Veloso said.
“But 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 to at least five years,” it said.
“However, 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 is misplaced,” the pension fund said.
“But despite the 2019 ruling by the Supreme Court, Gloria Maris Pasay still refused to turn over the property to GSIS,” the fund said.
After Gloria Maris Pasay repeatedly ignored the demand letters from GSIS to vacate and surrender the property, GSIS was constrained to file an ejectment case against the restaurant.