Manglona questions owner’s motive in appealing Rota Resort lease termination

Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota) has questioned the motive behind the owner of Rota Resort & Country Club’s filing of an appeal to the Superior Court after the Department of Public Land’s decision to terminate DPL’s land lease agreement with the resort.

In his letter to DPL Secretary Teresita A. Santos on Tuesday, Manglona said it appears that Hee Kyun Cho’s motive in filing the appeal is to further delay his eviction from the resort’s premises and further delay his obligation to pay more than half a million dollars of what is owed to DPL.

The senator asked DPL to request the court to impose punitive damages because Cho’s conduct and motive are egregious, especially if it prevents the DPL from moving forward in marketing the premises.

He said the DPL lawyer must request the judge assigned in the case to impose a security bond that will be used to cover the costs of security and maintenance of the premises.

Manglona said the request must include punitive damages and authorization to the DPL to issue a request for proposal to lease the property since it is very unlikely that Cho will succeed in his appeal.

Last March 22, Santos affirmed the DPL administrative hearing officer’s decision that terminates DPL’s land lease agreement with Rota Resort.

Santos stated, among other things, that administrative hearing officer Ramon S. Dela Cruz’s decision issued on Dec. 5, 2023, correctly concludes that Article II of the lease agreement does not apply to payment of rent or abandonment of the premises.

Article II states that when a delay is caused by a force majeure event, the period of delay “shall be added to the period allowed for the completion of such work.”

Force majeure refers to an unforeseeable circumstance that hinders a party from fulfilling its part in a contract.

Santos said the hearing officer’s decision correctly concludes that Rota Resort LLC, which owns Rota Resort & Country Club, failed to establish that its failures were in whole or in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic because the company cannot establish that its failures would not have occurred but for COVID-19.

Manglona said he just learned that Cho appealed to the court and that with the appeal, the court will have to schedule a hearing to hear the parties.

Manglona said after the hearing, the judge will most likely take the matter under advisement and render a written decision at a later time.

He said this process will take time and they don’t know how much time the judge will take to render a decision.

The senator said while the appeal is pending in court, he is greatly concerned, and the DPL should be equally concerned, that in the meantime the resort property must have security and needed maintenance.

“The DPL cannot afford to neglect the property during the period the appeal decision is pending,” he said.

In Rota Resort LLC and Cho’s appeal to Santos to reverse the hearing officer’s Dec. 5, 2023 decision, their counsel, Colin M. Thompson, said Cho has not abandoned the resort and, is, in fact, planning to transform it into a world-class golfing destination that’s close to Asia.

Thompson said Dela Cruz erred in concluding that the force majeure clause does not apply to payment of rent or abandonment.