Posted on
June 30, 2013 10:38:04 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
THE BASES
Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is considering various options to
settle its row with the city of Taguig on the use of the Bonifacio Global City
area which SM Aura Premier now occupies, including outright payment for the
land, the head of the agency said in a recent interview.
“One of the
options we are looking at is to get Taguig to buy the land so BCDA will be able
to get just compensation and the soldiers get what they deserve. Essentially SM
[Prime Holdings, Inc.] can advance payment to Taguig,” BCDA President Arnel
Paciano D. Casanova said.
Asked on the
estimated value of the land on which the mall now sits, Mr. Casanova replied:
“P5 billion.”
Neither the
city of Taguig nor the SM group would comment on the development, with the
city’s public information office saying the Office of the Mayor had yet to
receive a formal proposal and SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) -- the parent of SM
Prime -- insisting the issue was between BCDA and the local government.
“BCDA has to
negotiate with Taguig which is SM’s landlord. SM is just a lessee of Taguig’s
land,” Corazon P. Guidote, SMIC vice-president for Investor Relations, replied
via text when asked for comment.
BCDA ceded
the area concerned to Taguig City in 2008 as part of a 2004 settlement of
another land issue between the two parties. Consequently, Taguig City now owns
the title to the land.
The agency
now argues that building a mall on the land violates Republic Act (RA) 7917,
which amends Section 8 of RA 7227, or the Bases Conversion and Development Act
of 1992, to read in part: “Approximately 40 hectares of land in Fort Bonifacio,
Phase I, shall be retained as national government and local government centers,
sports facilities and parks...” and the deed of conveyance between BCDA and
Taguig City in January 2008 which states the land should be used for local
government centers, sports facilities and parks.
SM Prime won
the auction the Taguig City government conducted in 2007 to develop the land.
Mr. Casanova
said SM Aura Premier cannot be considered a civic center because public areas
of the facility like the rooftop park are “not open anytime to the public.”
He added that
BCDA and its “constituents” -- soldiers -- have not benefited from the current
situation.
RA 7227
provides, among others, that proceeds from the sale of portions of Metro Manila
military camps shall be used partly to finance the transfer of military camps
and the construction of new ones; the self-reliance and modernization program
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP); concessional and long-term
housing loan assistance and livelihood assistance to AFP officers enlisted men
and their families; as well as rehabilitation and expansion of the AFP’s
medical facilities.
Hence, Mr.
Casanova said, payment for the land on which the mall now stands is one way by
which “each one’s interest can be met.”
In an
interview last June 12 with ABS-CBN News Channel, a counsel of SM Prime had
stressed that it is Taguig City that now holds the title to the land and that
the same 2008 deed of conveyance provided, among others, that “BCDA shall not
place any restriction on the land use or zoning specified” in the settlement.
SM Aura
Premier, which has a gross floor area of 234,892 square meters, is SM Prime’s
47th mall. It incorporates office towers, a chapel, a convention center, and
mini-coliseum, among other features.
SM Prime grew
its net income by 15% to P2.79 billion in the first quarter from P2.43 billion
the previous year. Its shares closed at P16.30 apiece on Friday last week, flat
from their Thursday finish. -- E. N. J. David
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