BHI regains Fridays resort

Panlilio-led Boulevard Holdings Inc. has obtained a ruling from Aklan’s municipal court that favors its bid to regain control of Fridays Boracay Beach hotel resort, whose operations were disrupted by a land dispute with a member of the family that sold the lot where the resort stands.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, BHI said the Municipal Trial Court of Aklan had issued an order to restore possession of what it said was the “illegally taken” Fridays property.

The court order was dated July 18 and issued by Assisting Judge Maribel De Guia-Cipriano, the disclosure said.

BHI earlier claimed that “armed civilian men” led by Datu Yap Sumndad, a scion of the family that sold the lot years ago, had occupied the hotel resort with armed men who had reportedly drained the resort’s pool and walled off the area with hollow blocks.

Claiming that BHI’s lease had expired on Feb. 14, BHI said Datu Yap had overrun the hotel using “brute force.”

The company said it had already paid P40 million to buy the property from Datu Yap’s parents previously, a deal which Panlilio said had been approved by court with finality in 2009.