Published on 19 July 2012 [ manilatimes.net ]
Written by Lovelyn Quintos, Reporter
The refusal of Camp John Hay
Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) to pay arrear obligations amounting to P3.2
billion to the government has hindered social and economic growth in the
Cordillera region, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said
on Wednesday.
In a press conference, BCDA President
and Chief Executive Officer Arnel Casanova stressed that 25 percent or about
P750 million of the total leases payable by the Sobrepena-led CJH DevCo to BCDA
will go to the city government of Baguio for developmental and infrastructure
projects.
“John Hay is envisioned to be the
catalyst of development in the Cordilleras. It is supposed to be the hub of
economic activity in Baguio and neighboring communities in order to create a
ripple effect of social and economic development in the region,” he said.
BCDA said the P750 million revenue
could translate to 12,000 low-cost housing, 5, 000 classrooms and the
rehabilitation of hospitals.
Casanova added that they are expecting
the city government of Baguio to support BCDA in upholding the law and
collecting the arrears from CJH DevCo.
“We are doing this in behalf of the
people in Baguio and the people of Cordillera because they are supposed to
receive out of the P3 billion payment that we should be receiving, they’re
supposed to receive 25 percent of that or about P750 million. Definitely the
non-collection and the failure to receive the P750 million by the city
government and the municipality of Cordillera hampers the development project
in that locality,” he said.
Despite the string of legal cases,
Casanova said that investors continue to come to the Camp John Hay Economic
Zone. He said that BCDA intends to inform the public of the status of the
agreement so that possible investors can consult the BCDA before opening their business
there.
Casanova said that BCDA has no
information on whether locators are still paying rental to CJHDevCo, but since
the lease agreement has been terminated, BCDA will not refuse lease payments
from locators.
He also said that they have requested
the House of Representatives to subpoena all the financial statements of all
the businesses of Sobrepena and associates who failed to disclose their books
to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
No to joint venture
BCDA Chairman Felicito Payumo, meanwhile,
clarified that the invitation given to CJHDevCo was to submit a proposal which
the board decided not to consider.
“We invited them to submit a proposal.
But when we saw the proposal, it was not addressing the obligations, the P3
billion, and how it will be paid and whether it is credible,” he said.
CJHDevCo argued earlier that Payumo
invited the company’s executives to present the proposal to the board, a day
before BCDA announced it is terminating the contract with CJH DevCo. CJH Devco
said that the proposal could have given the government P8.5 billion in revenues
had the BCDA board approved it.
However, Payumo noted that what
CJHDevCo offered was a joint venture, which the BCDA board would not approve
because switching to a joint venture would mean writing off of the P3 billion.
Payumo added that contrary to what
CJHDevCo’s claims that the One-Stop Action Center is non-existent, locators are
able to secure permits and are not complaining. He said the permits requested
by CJHDevCo should be secured from other agencies and not the BCDA.
The 1996 lease agreement has had three
restructurings in 2000, 2003 and 2008.
“[The former BCDA board] probably
thought CJHDevCo could really pay, and they were in good faith when they did,”
Payumo said.
He said that the previous BCDA
leadership should have asked the developer post-dated checks as guarantee
before agreeing to restructure.
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