Caloocan City Mayor Recom Echiverri has assured nearly 300 tenants of Ever Gotesco Grand Central Shopping Mall that no one will be evicted when city hall takes over the property.

?The stall owners should not fear... we plan to enter into a new contract with them,? a statement from the mayor?s office said.

Not conceding an inch, the Gotesco management informed its patrons, clientele, staff and the general public that normal business hours were in place.

?We would like to assure all concerned that the mall is still being operated by the Ever Gotesco group. Our tenants, stall holders and merchants will not be displaced. This matter is handled by our legal department and we?re still waiting pending resolution on two contradicting orders issued by co-equal courts,? a company statement said.

On Monday, Sheriff Nicholas Ramos, of the Regional Trial Court Branch 126, served notice to the mall occupants to vacate the place by Wednesday on orders of Presiding Judge Oscar Barrient, who issued a writ of possession last Feb. 9 in favor of the city government over its tax claims against the mall.

But Sheriff Carmelo Cachero of the Manila RTC Branch 11 showed up with a writ of preliminary injunction issued by Judge Cicero Jurado dated Dec. 24, 2008, enjoining Caloocan authorities from taking over the mall managed by Gotesco Investments Inc.

The face-off around 11 a.m. fizzled out by 1 p.m. as Ramos managed to serve notice to the tenants and it was business as usual for the rest of the day.

Caloocan put up the mall for auction over P722 million in unpaid realty taxes from 1986 to 2006, claiming the property was forfeited to the local government on Dec. 28, 2008 after Gotesco failed to redeem it within the one-year grace period. Arlie Calalo