MANILA, Philippines - The Bases
Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) still has no plans to bid out the
property occupied by Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) whose lease it
had terminated, until the former lessee vacates the property.
“We are not yet thinking of that because any
plans of rebidding would be premature. We still need to reassess the status of
the property and the contract,” said BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano
Casanova in a phone interview. “Most investors are also waiting for the
developments.”
To date CJHDevco has an outstanding
debt of P3.01 billion ending April 2012 to the government. CJHDevco had claimed
that the termination was “illegal.”
Cassanova, however said that the
agency had received positive response for the termination of CJHDevco’s lease
agreement.
“We have received a lot of positive support
from various sectors regarding our efforts to get for the government what is
due to it,” he said.
For now, the agency is not inclined to
use force to have the CJHDevco vacate the property.
“We can exercise all remedies
available for us under the contract and existing laws,” Cassanova said.
The termination notice was served to
CJHDevco on May 16 in its corporate offices in the Camp John Hay Special
Economic Zone in Baguio City, following a special meeting of the BCDA board.
The notice signed by Cassanova was
addressed to CJHDevco CEO Robert John Sobrepeña and president Ferdinand Santos.
The notice stated that the BCDA is
terminating the lease agreement dated Oct. 19, 1996 and the Restructuring
Memorandum of Agreement (RMOA) dated July 1, 2008.
The BCDA enumerated eight breaches of
contract by CJHDevco: It’s failure to pay the annual rent due the government
for many years; failure to open an escrow account and deposit 50 percent of the
common usage services assessment; fraudulent double-sale of a property given as
payment to BCDA; violation of fire and safety laws in the Camp John Hay Suites;
unlawful squatting of CJHDevco’s security agency; subcontracting of the water
operations and distribution without BCDA’s consent; violations on safety,
health and environment regulations; and misrepresentation of its financial
standing.
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