BCDA tells John Hay top lessee: Open books

BAGUIO CITY  – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority challenged the Camp John Hay Development Corp. to voluntarily open its books to show good faith in claiming it suffered financial losses but declaring dividends for its stockholders.

           

 Lawyer Arnel Paciano Casanova, BCDA president and chief executive officer, came out with the challenge to the John Hay developer following earlier findings that the CJHDevCo’s financial statements indicated that it declared dividends for three consecutive years until 2000 but t the same time defaulted in settling its financial obligations because of alleged heavy losses.

           

 “As stewards of State property, we cannot let such kind of duplicity come to pass without taking appropriate actions to protect public interest in this issue,” Casanova said.

            According to him, audited financial statements reportedly released by CJHDevCo showed that in 1998, the lessee declared a total of P378 million in dividends to its stockholders, P350 million in 1999 and P200 million in 2000.

            On the other hand, Casanova added CJHDevCo continued to ignore BCDA’s efforts to collect lease rental payments from the private property developer, the amount of which has since increased to P3 billion as of the end of 2011.

            At the same time, he welcomed the move of the House special committee on bases conversion to subpoena the John Hay developer’s books of accounts, saying that it would once and for all establish the lessee’s actual financial condition.

            “CJHDevCo has violated several laws while operating in the 247-hectare John Hay Special Economic Zone, including the non-filing of audited financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since 2002,” Casanova said, citing “it is a good thing that the House committee on bases conversion has resolved to subpoena the books of CJHDevCo to compel its officials to show the firm’s financial records to the government.”

            The BCDA official disclosed the John Hay developer stopped paying its lease rental to the State-run corporation as early as 1997, the second year of its stay in the former American rest and recreation facility, claiming that it experienced operational losses.

            Casanova claimed the John hay developer also stopped submitting its audited financial statements to the SEC since 2002 when BCDA discovered that the company has been declaring dividends to its stockholders which is reportedly inconsistent with “their claims of losses.”

            “We have records to show that CJHDevCo had been earning while operating in the John Hay Special Economic Zone,” Casanova said, noting that “these violations of government regulations are the main reasons the lessee has not been able to acquire permits for operating in the JHSEZ.”

            “BCDA is a government agency so we require all our private partners to comply with government laws,” Casanova added, citing that “we could not grant permits to a lessee which has not been filing its income tax returns and has a string of violations to government laws.”