BAGUIO CITY– The city government here approved the release of P200 million to pay its arrears to the Government Service Insurance System and fully own the 10,000-square meter Baguio Convention Center property.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered the city legal office to coordinate with the GSIS legal department for the preparation of a compromise agreement that will allow the city full ownership of the 35-year-old convention facility so that it could already rehabilitate it.
The city government made a partial payment for the Baguio Convention Center property seven years ago but is in danger of losing the property by default because of missed payments.
The local government was supposed to pay the State insurance corporation P216 million representing unpaid arrears and interests as well as surcharges for its failure to comply with its obligations in a tripartite agreement entered into between GSIS, the city government and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority but the same increased to over P230 million due to continuing imposition of interest.
Supposedly, the city will purchase the Baguio Convention Center from GSIS in the amount of P250 million in 2004 with the use of the city’s 25 percent share from the lease rentals of the development of Camp John Hay.
Domogan said the local government badly needs the convention facility so that it will fully own a convention center that it could manage, administer and operate without restraint from outside forces.
The Baguio Convention Center was built by the Ministry of Human Settlements in 1975 in order to host the celebrated world chess championship match between Russian chess grandmasters Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.
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