Baguio court prevents takeover: BCDA stops contract with John Hay lessee

By March Fianza and Alfred Dizon

BAGUIO CITY -- The state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has terminated the lease agreement with its non-paying lessee, the Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJHDevco), and ordered it to vacate John Hay because of the lessee’s “material and incurable breaches” of its contractual obligations.

BCDA also demanded that the Sobrepena-led CJHDevco pay its outstanding rentals and restructured obligations in the total amount of P3,007,712,654.00 as of end-April 2012.

The termination notice was served to CJHDevco on May 16 in its corporate offices in the Camp John Hay Special Economic Zone in Baguio City, following a special meeting of the BCDA Board yesterday (May 15) at the state-firm’s headquarters in Taguig City.

The notice, signed by BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Casanova, was addressed to CJHDevco chief executive officer Robert John Sobrepena and president Ferdinand Santos.  

Earlier on Tuesday (May 15), the regional trial court here stopped the BCDA from taking over establishments, facilities and administrative offices of CJHDevCo, developer of the 247-hectare former American vacation and recreation base in the summer capital.

In a six-page order, the Baguio City RTC Branch 6 granted the initial prayer in the petition filed by CJHDevCo and issued a writ of preliminary injunction enjoining the BCDA from carrying out its order to unilaterally take control of the leased properties.

Judge CletoVillacorta said he found sufficient basis to issue the writ to prevent “grave and irreparable injury” arising from such a takeover.

The order takes effect until the court rules on the merits of CJHDevCo’s petition.

After the court order, on Thursday (May 17), the BCDA issued the notice to CJHDevCo  terminating the Lease Agreement dated 19 October 1996 and the Restructuring Memorandum of Agreement (RMOA) dated 1 July 2008 due to CJHDevco’s material and incurable breaches.

Eight breaches of CJHDevco were enumerated, which included the following: CJHDevco’s failure to pay the annual rent due government for many years; failure to open an escrow account and deposit 50% of the Common Usage Services Assessment; fraudulent double-sale of a property given as payment to BCDA; violation of fire and safety laws in the Camp John Hay Suites; unlawful squatting of CJHDevco’s security agency; subcontracting of the water operations and distribution without BCDA’s consent; violations on safety, health and environmental regulations; and CJHDevco’s gross misrepresentation of its financial standing.

Private individuals and corporations have also filed estafa cases against CJHDevco officers and directors for fraudulent business activities while operating in the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ).

“The breaches, which involve disloyal, dishonest, fraudulent and self-dealing conduct, are so serious that they have fundamentally destroyed and frustrated the purposes, not to mention, the very heart and essence of the contract,” Casanova said in the termination notice.

BCDA terminated the contract following the state agency’s rejection of CJHDevco’s latest settlement proposal. “The supposed offer of compromise that CJHDevco offered on May 15, was unacceptable because it required the writing off of the lessee’s debts from 1997 to 2011, which totals to more than P3 billion,” Casanova said.

CJHDevco’s proposed settlement also seeks to change the bid terms and extend the lease contract until 2061. Casanova said “This is grossly disadvantageous to government.”

“It is clear that from the beginning that CJHDevco had no intention to pay the contracted amounts, and the restructurings it sought from BCDA were purely designed to delay or evade the payment of rentals and the performance of its development obligations,” Casanova said.

The BCDA chief also underscored CJHDevco’s evident “lack of good faith in complying with its obligations.” The firm pleaded financial difficulty and losses as reason for defaulting in its lease rentals for the years 1998 and 1999, and sought a restructuring in the year 2000. However, amidst claims of losses, CJHDevco declared dividends during those three years.

“Clearly, there is no business, practical, or legal sense for BCDA to continue in partnership with a party who has consistently breached and unjustly refused to comply with its contractual obligations,” Casanova pointed out.

He said further negotiations will be futile in this case, “and it would be to the detriment of the government and the Filipino people to prolong the relationship that has largely been one-sided in CJHDevco’s favor.”

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Power coop plans P3 million refund

By Freddie G. Lazaro

SANTIAGO, Ilocos Sur — The 151,985 member-consumers of the Ilocos Sur Electric Coop. (ISECO) may be up for some good news as the board of directors are working on the distribution of a P3 million patronage refund.

Citing the proposal, General manager Egdon A. Sabio said qualified recipients of the refund are  members-consumers, who are good payors and updated in payment of their electric bills.

The giving of the proposed patronage refund to members-consumers for their good standing in support to the management and operations of the cooperative is targeted this year.

“This P3 million budget for this proposed program is part of the net margin or profit of ISECO last year (2011),” he said.

The members of the board’s proposal was presented and discussed with representatives from the National Electrification Administration (NEA) during the ISECO management board meeting Thursday.

Under the proposal, he said that the computation of the patronage refund for individual member – consumer is based on the total amount of electricity consumption it paid within the whole year.

“The higher the member paid electric consumption last year, the higher he gets from the patronage refund,” he said.

He said that upon the approval by the higher authorities of the board proposal on patronage refund, this will automatically appear on the monthly electric billing of every member.

This patronage refund will be used by a consumer as payment discount of his current bill in a particularly month.

To note, this is a first time that ISECO, which is one of the top performing electric cooperatives in the county, will give a patronage refund to its members –consumers once the proposal will be approved.

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‘BCDA notice of lease terminationis illegal’

B AGUIO CITY  --  An official of the Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) Thursday said the attempt of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to terminate the company’s contract was illegal.

In a statement, CJHDevCo executive v ice president and chief operating officer Alfredo Yñiguez said the notice of termination of lease to the company for allegedly not intending to pay the BCDA is “baseless.”

The notice of termination of lease was issued by BCDA president Arnel Casanova, who said he was exercising his right to terminate the contract of CJHDevCo.

Yñiguez said their lawyers have advised them that Casanova “has acted arbitrarily and without basis, using accusations instead of facts as basis to terminate a valid and binding contract that cannot be terminated without following proper procedure.”

Yñiguez said, “We have paid BCDA a total amount of P1.4 billion. We have been diligent with our payments. In fact, in an act of good faith and to amicably settle all pending disputes, CJHDC reached out to BCDA to settle the ongoing impasse and even offered to pay P500 million and presented another proposal that should generate almost P13 billion in revenues for BCDA.”

“He (Casanova) has no basis to say that there is no intention to pay. As a matter of fact, it is Casanova that has refused to submit to the authority of the arbitration, which is mandated in the contract,” Yniguez said.

Yñiguez added before the BCDA can send any notice of termination, it should first submit itself to the proper procedures outlined in the contract.

“There is currently an arbitration procedure that is ongoing. The BCDA should submit itself to this procedure first. Casanova cannot just whimsically terminate the contract without following this procedure, otherwise he is acting in abuse of his discretion as BCDA president and should be sanctioned for it,” he said. 

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DOST offers P’sinan scholarships

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Low-income families may now afford to send their children to school with the scholarship being offered to deserving students.

           

Engr. Felipe D. Andrada, director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Pangasinan Science and Technology Center (STC),  said students who wish to enroll in high school for school year 2013-2014 may apply for scholarship to the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) sponsored by the DOST. -- LBI

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N. Ecija village chief, councilman shot dead

LUPAO, Nueva Ecija – A village chief and councilman were killed when a farmer went on a shooting rampage in a birthday party here Monday night, police said.

The two victims, Elpidio Gamit, 50, Jerry Verdillo, chairman and councilman, respectively, of Barangay AlalayChica here, were both allies of Gov. Aurelio Umali and Mayor Richard Ramos.

They were on their second terms.

Senior Insp. Florentino Cuevas Jr., Lupao police chief, said the gunman, PedritoDicipulo, 58, was later arrested near the crime scene.

Cuevas said the shooting was apparently sparked by an old grudge between the sons of Verdillo and Dicipulo.

Investigation showed that the shooting broke out at around 9:30 p.m. Monday at the birthday party of a certain Lito where the two victims and the suspect were in a drinking bout along with other men.

Cuevas quoted witnesses as saying that in the middle of the drinking session,

Dicipulo stood up and left. When he returned, he was brandishing a short gun of unknown caliber and shot the victims point-blank.

Gamit was hit in the body, and Verdillo in the back.

They were rushed to the Sacred Heart Hospital in San Jose City where Verdillo was pronounced dead on arrival.

Gamit was being transferred to Cabanatuan City but died upon reaching the Science City of Munoz.

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ARMM loopholes fixed in Cordillera autonomy bill

By Dexter A. See 

BAGUIO CITY – Loopholes in implementation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao that resulted to numerous problems were rectified in provisions of House Bill 5595 and Senate Bill 3115 which seeks to establish an autonomous region in the Cordillera, thus, the fear of the people on the creation of another Ampatuan regime will not happen, a top official of the Regional Development Council in the Cordillera said.

During the joint RDC-Cordillera Administrative Region, congressional and city consultation on autonomy here at city hall last week, Dr. Virgilio C. Bautista said there will no Ampatuan regime that will be created once the Cordillera Autonomous Region will be established because there are appropriate safety nets that were included as provisions in the bills to prevent abuses in the powers of the regional officials.

More importantly, he explained the culture of Cordillerans and Muslims are totally different, thus, it will be difficult for any leader to abuse his or her powers under an autonomous set up.

Bautista said Muslim leader, lawyer IscatMastura, former ARMM Executive Secretary, encouraged Cordillerans to push for autonomy since they are in a better position to achieve self-governance due to peace-loving cultural people with prevailing peace and order in the region.

Domogan meanwhile said it is not autonomy that is the problem in ARMM but it was the people who took turns in running affairs of the region who became the problem because of alleged abuses in their powers that resulted to too much corruption.

According to him, results of congressional inquiries conducted on the problems that cropped up in the ARMM when he was still a congressman showed the people who were placed in power were the actual problem and not on the whole autonomy system.

Under HB 5595 and SB 3115, Domogan explained the areas prone to abuses such as in the allocation of the region’s resources, the distribution of funds to the local governments comprising the autonomous region and the powers of the regional governor to control the same among others were subjected to limitations.

The local chief executive claimed in the distribution of the P10 billion subsidy to the regional government, it was specified that 20 percent will remain with the regional government while 10 percent each will be given to the six provinces and one city while 4 percent will be given to the component city of Tabuk and the 6 percent will be treated as reserve for first-class municipalities that will be upgraded into cities in the future after the creation of the autonomous region.

Domogan said regional line agencies will have control of their respective budgets without interference considering that the regional government will simply oversee the implementation of their respective programs, projects and advocacies to the different parts of the autonomous region.

 “Autonomy is the best legacy that we will be able to leave for our children and our children’s children because it will be their vehicle towards a developed Cordillera region. We might be enjoying the fruits of an autonomous region but it will be short live,” Domogan said, saying the city is at the height of a massive information and education campaign to inform the people on the benefits of self-governance.

 Domogan rallied Cordillerans to unite in favor of autonomy because the national government will take advantage of any crack in the region’s unity and make it as an excuse not to grant the desired subsidy for the region of P10 billion for the first five years and P5 years for the succeeding five years and evade their obligation to bringing development to the countryside through self-governance.

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Kalinga tribe opposes Tabuk hydro dam

 By Gina Dizon

TABUK CITY, Kalinga -- Tribal leaders and  members  of the Naneng Ancestral Domain comprising  barangays Lucong,  Bagumbayan, and  Dupag  petitioned  the  National Commission on Indigenous Peoples , the Department of  Environment and   Natural Resources and the  Department of Energy to cancel  a water  rights  permit and a compliance  certificate   process  obtaining free prior and  informed  consent  issued  to  the Minanga sub tribe of barangay Dupag.

Around 150 petitioners said they  were not consulted as per  provisions  of  the Indigenous  Peoples Rights  Act endowing  the rights and process  of  FPIC of  the affected community to  the proposed building of  the Upper  Tabuk Hydro power  Electric Dam  or Dupag Dam project.

Said   compliance certificate  to the FPIC  process was issued  May 14, 2009 by  NCIP Officer in Charge  and  Commissioner for southern and  eastern Mindanao  FelecitoMasagnay following  a resolution  issued by the  NCIP en banc  May 12, 2009.

Petitioners  in their  April 25 , 2012  resolution further asked  Secretary Ramon Paje of the  DENR  to cancel the water rights permit  issued in favor  of the  project proponent  Kalinga  Hydropower Incorporated.  

In same resolution, the petitioners  asked  Secretary Jose Almendras to  cancel the  hydro power service contract  given to the  Kalinga Hydro Power  Inc or the Minanga sub tribe.

Petitioners claimed that  the  indigenous cultural communities of  Naneng  and Minanga  are homogenous societies and thus the Minanga sub tribe  is not a  distinct  sub tribe, being  part of  the  Naneng ancestral domain.

The proposed  Upper  Tabuk Hydro Power Electric  Dam or Dupag dam  project  along the Tanudan river reaches 35.4 meters in height to  collect  a million  cubic meters  of  water  at the back of the dam and  release  waters  at  a frequency of  40  to 60 meters per  second. 

Two turbines are designed to let  the flowing waters  produce a  10 to 17 megawatt  hydroelectric current.

The International Commission on  Large Dams  and the World Commission on  Dams classify a large dam as that which restricts  the natural flow  of  water  in a river and  where  the  height of the dam  reaches 15 meters and above.

“The  building of the  dam shall  lead to  flooding  and siltation thus  damaging  farming systems  upstream and  downstream, ”  tribal leader Faustino Gupaal  said. 

Siltation is a common occurrence in large dams  as that found in the Agno river  in AmbuklaoBenguet , manifested by  the  cementing of  sediments including  gravel,  soil, and other materials which collect at the backside  of  the dam and  downstream. Siltation gives way to the increase of the river’s width eating up soil at the sides of the river. 

Some 156 families were displaced when  the  Ambuklao Dam found  along the  Agno river was  built in 1956.

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