Couple seeks mayor’s help to regain resort in Panglao
FILE
An elderly couple who entered into a lease agreement for their beach-front resort in Panglao, Bohol, with a family, sought the help of the municipal mayor in their locality to close the business and revoke the business permit for non-payment of lease.
Eteria Evelyn Naval Flores, 70, and her husband Wilfredo Datoy Flores, 67, through their lawyer, wrote to Panglao municipal Mayor Edgardo Arcay to issue a closure order against the Villa Tomasa.
The lease agreement of the Flores couple with Jonathan Guardo and siblings involves a 1.1-hectare Alona Kew White Beach Resort for a rental of P10 million per month.
Nestled on the pristine shores of Panglao, the Alona Kew White Beach Resort has been one of the most prominent resorts in Bohol and has been the source of livelihood for the Flores couple.
The Flores couple was drawn to a compelling proposal: a monthly lease payment of P10 million, coupled with an option to later sell their property for P1.5 billion. The contract, finalized on January 30, 2023, appeared to promise them financial security and peace of mind.
However, the arrangement had not been met. Not only did the Flores couple lose their source of income after handing over their resort to the Guardo family, but the promised payments also failed to materialize.
After just a P5 million initial payment, the subsequent financial commitments collapsed, with 17 post-dated checks bouncing, plunging the Flores family into financial distress.
According to documents, Guardo owes the Flores couple a total of P53 million in rental arrears. This prompted the resort owners to preterminate the lease agreement for breach of contract and demand payment of their dues.
But instead of paying, the Guardos insisted in their reply to the demand letter sent to them that the owners cannot rescind their contract because they “have spent a huge amount of money on the repairs of the rooms to be habitable for guests” and still “need to recover all the expenses incurred from such repairs.”
They also claim that they are losing money operating the resort and therefore it is difficult for them to pay their rentals.
In the same letter, however, Guardo contradicted himself in his claim of financial losses when he accused the Floreses of taking interest in retaking their resort after they had “monitored the number of guests booking the rooms and the sales in the restaurant.”
Apart from failing to pay their rentals, the Guardo family also failed to pay their local business permits and taxes, prompting the Panglao municipal government to order the closure of the beach resort.
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