The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the January 18, 2008 election of the new board members of the Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association, Inc. (AMWSLAI), thus putting an end to its three-year leadership dispute in AMWSLAI, the savings and loans association of active and retired officers, enlisted personnel, and employees of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In a 12-page decision penned by Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, the Court’s Third Division denied for lack of merit an Omnibus Motion filed by the respondents, led by Col. Luvin S. Manay, to annul the January 18 elections and overturn the temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals enjoining the trial court from ordering the petitioners, incumbent Board of Trustees, led by retired Air Force Col. Ricardo L. Nolasco, Jr., to vacate their positions and give way for the respondents’ reinstatement.

The Court ruled that the Omnibus Motion filed by the respondents “cannot be a substitute for the remedy of a special civil action for certiorari” in obtaining the remedies being sought.  It stressed that it cannot take cognizance of proceedings before the Court of Appeals unless such are brought before it through the proper mode of review.  In this case, the Court found that the Omnibus Motion is “a totally different case” from that subject of its October 9, 2007 decision, which annulled the October 14, 2005 AMWSLAI board election won by respondent group of retired police officers.  Thus, the Court said, “the correct remedy for respondents would be to file a motion for reconsideration before the CA and, upon its denial, to file a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the High Tribunal.”

The Court likewise found the Omnibus Motion “so wanting in form and substance that it cannot pass for a petition for certiorari and prohibition” in that respondents violated the rule against forum shopping, as well as failed to pay docket fees, which is an indispensable requirement under the Rules of Court. 

“On a final note, it must be stated that the continuing battle of which group should sit in the governing body of the AMWSLAI has caused doubts and uncertainties in the minds of the hundreds of thousands who have invested their life savings therein. It affects not only the stability of this financial institution but of the economy at large. It is fitting that we should now write finis to this controversy, and allow the AMWSLAI to regain the confidence of its members and of the general public,” the Court said. (GR No. 175338, Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association, Inc. v. Manay, April 29, 2008)