MMDA ordered by CA to pay vendor P40,000 in damages

FOR ILLEGALLY CONFISCATING a Quezon city vendor's goods and dismantling her store more than five years ago, the Court of Appeals (CA) Twelfth Division has ordered the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to pay P40,000 in damages.

Penned by Associate Justice Mariano Del Castillo, the ruling said MMDA’s act has deprived Gloria Fenol of her property without due process.

“Although the Court finds it laudable for the MMDA’s intention to remedy the proliferation of sidewalk vendors that hamper the free flow of traffic, we do not, however, permit the persecution of the legitimate vendors that are not nuisance per se. Once their constitutional right is transgressed upon, the judiciary vows to protect them,” the CA said.

Court records showed that on Feb. 3, 2005, the MMDA Sidewalk Clearing Operation Group (SCOG), led by Bobby Esquivel, dismantled Fenol's store and confiscated all her wares for reportedly blocking the free passage of pedestrians in Cubao, Quezon City.

Fenol showed the MMDA team a lease contract with the land owner allowing her to occupy its front space and clearances and permits issued by the QC government to prove that she was occupying a private property and operating legally.

Aside from this, she also showed the MMDA copies of her 2003 business permit and locational clearance, with the MMDA’s stamp of approval, as further proof that the agency was already aware of her store’s existence.

But the MMDA ignored these documents and proceeded with the clearing operation, prompting her to seek redress before the court.

Both the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) and the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City initially ruled in MMDA’s favor. But the CA reversed their decision.

Fenol claimed for damages in the amount of P100,000 but failed to substantiate her claim with documentary proof