Manila, Philippines - The Bases
Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is calling on locators of Camp John
Hay to send their contracts to the agency so that it may assess and collect
payments for the use of the property amid an ongoing row with lessee Camp John
Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo).
Arnel Paciano Casanova, president and
chief executive officer of the BCDA said in a press conference that it wants
locators of Camp John Hay, which has contracts with CJHDevCo, to contact the
government-owned corporation so that it could review the contracts and collect
the payments directly for the use of the property.
“It is imperative for them (locators)
to contact the BCDA so that we can look into the contracts they entered into
with CJHDevCo and give them proper advice,” he said.
He said the BCDA would also be able to
collect the payments directly for the use of the property if the locators gets
in touch with them.
The BCDA wants to review contracts of
locators with CJHDevCo as it has issued a termination of its lease as well as a
notice to vacate the property to CJHDevCo, citing breaches of the contract.
The BCDA entered into a lease
agreement with CJHDevCo in 1996 for a portion of the Camp John Hay Special
Economic Zone.
Under the agreement, CJHDevCo was
authorized to lease, develop, operate and manage the leased property for 25
years or until October 2021.
Locators in the property covered by
the lease agreement have to enter into sub-lease agreements with CJHDevCo,
which in turn collects the payments for the use of the property.
In May, the BCDA terminated its lease
agreement with CJHDevCo as the latter avoided payment of its obligations to the
government.
To date, Casanova said, CJHDevCo has
to pay P3 billion to the government.
He said locators in the former US camp
have to go to the BCDA so that their contracts could be reviewed as some of
these had validity periods beyond the 25 year term of the master lease
agreement between BCDA and CJHDevCo.
He said the BCDA has been suffering
due to CJHDevCo’s continued refusal to settle its payments and fulfill its
contractual obligations.
As such, he said, the government is
determined to collect the payments due from CJHDevCo and to resolve the matter.
“The board will make sure that the
case will be closed. This will not reach until 2016,” he said.
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