The Regional Trial Court of Lapu-Lapu City has dismissed the anti-dummy case against top officials of Megawide Construction Corp. in connection with the company’s Cebu airport project.
The dismissal of the case was in response to the motion filed by Megawide which argued that the complaint which alleged foreigners were operating the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA), lacked probable cause.
The court order explained that the dismissal of the case was necessitated by the enactment of Republic Act 11659, signed into law last March 21, which clearly excluded airport operations and maintenance from the definition of a public utility, thereby removing the applicability of the nationality restriction to GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) in operating the MCIA.
“Consequently, RA 11659 has completely eradicated any alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law of which the Megawide respondents were wrongfully accused of. Furthermore, the omnibus order stated that RA 11659 applies to the Megawide respondents due to the retroactive effect of laws favorable to the accused,” Megawide said in a filing with the stock exchange.
GMCAC is Megawide’s joint venture with India GMR Infrastructure which converted the Mactan Cebu International Airport into a world-class gateway.
Charges were dropped against Megawide president and CEO Edgar Saavedra, infrastructure development executive director and chief corporate affairs and branding officer Manuel Louie B. Ferrer, director Oliver Y. Tan and VP for Corporate Finance and Planning Jez Dela Cruz.