THE Court of Appeals has junked a motion of former Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar seeking reconsideration of its order dismissing his petition against a Manila court in connection with a human trafficking awareness campaign.
The Manila court has ruled that he stand trial for breach of contract and damages lodged by a private company for unpaid payments for the production of public awareness shows against human trafficking.
In a resolution promulgated on January 10, the appellate court’s Former Special Division held that Salazar did not present new arguments in his motion to warrant a reconsideration of its Sept.16, 2022 decision.
“The matters raised by petitioner in his motion has been considered, weighed and passed upon by the Court in said decision,” the CA’s two-page ruling said.
“The motion thus fails to present any new and substantial matter, or any cogent and compelling reason which would justify reconsideration of the Court’s ruling. Wherefore, the motion for reconsideration is denied for lack of merit,” it added.
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta and concurred by Associate Justices Roberto Quiroz and Pablito Perez.
In its assailed decision, the appellate court said the Manila Regional Trial Court did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it denied Salazar’s motion to dismiss the complaint filed by Wall City Entertainment Incorporated against him, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, and IACAT-member agencies.
That decision stemmed from a complaint filed by Wall City, a company engaged in multi-media production and established by Intramuros-based JS Contractor Inc., a company engaged in the recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers, on Dec. 6, 2017 accusing Salazar, IACAT and member-agencies of breach of contract after IACAT paid only P429,750 for expenses incurred in the production of shows for IACAT TV operations.
Subsequent efforts of Wall City to get paid for services rendered from November 2014 to October 2016 failed.
As DOJ undersecretary and undersecretary in-charge of IACAT, Salazar invited Wall City to present its concept on doing promotional shows against human trafficking. He also signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Wall City.
Salazar, according to the complaint, also gave assurances that IACAT member-agencies would cooperate and fulfill their obligations under the MOA.
