BCDA files suit to get hold of hotel rooms at Camp John Hay
BAGUIO CITY—The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) filed 52 counts of malversation against the developer of Camp John Hay at the Department of Justice on Wednesday for allegedly failing to turn over pieces of property that it had relinquished in 2008 to settle some of its unpaid rent.
Lawyer Arnel Casanova, BCDA president, said BCDA has not yet received the 26 rooms at The Manor and The Suites, which were part of a dacion en pago arrangement that the Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) agreed to enter into when the two parties restructured the Camp John Hay lease agreement in 2008.
‘Dacion en pago’
A dacion en pago is a legal transaction where an indebted party settles its obligations by turning over its assets to its debtors, in this case, the CJHDevco hotel units and five luxury log cabins representing part of the developer’s P2.6-billion debt, Casanova said.
BCDA and CJHDevco had been engaged in a contractual feud since December 2011, when the developer rescinded the 2008 restructured lease agreement that provided for the dacion en pago arrangement.
“Because the units are already part of the dacion en pago, these are now government properties,” Casanova told the Inquirer by telephone.
But a Baguio court directed BCDA and CJHDevco to submit to arbitration in a July ruling to settle the dispute, said lawyer Manuel Ubarra, CJHDevco vice president for litigation.
Arbitration pushed
He said the firm was unaware of the new lawsuit and could not issue a comment. “However, BCDA has to honor the arbitration order of the court,” he added.
Casanova said BCDA will participate in the arbitration but has yet to receive a notice from the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, pending CJHDevco’s payment of a P736-million injunction bond that was required by the court.
BCDA’s lawsuit was addressed to the CJHDevco board of directors and officials and its subsidiary, Camp John Hay Hotel Corp. (CJH Hotels), which operates The Manor and The Suites.
The 22-page complaint said CJHDevco directors and officers allegedly refused to return to government 16 units of The Manor and 10 units of The Suites, which have a combined value of P121 million.
Earnings
The complaint said CJHDevco continues to earn from these units but has refused to disclose to BCDA how much these units earned for the government.
In a statement on Wednesday, Casanova said: “We refuse to subject the government’s properties to an investment arrangement which does not comply with the law and does not provide government with any protection whatsoever.”
In March, BCDA sued CJHDevco for fraud, claiming one of the luxury cabins it turned over as part of the dacion en pago was already sold to another buyer. In June, CJHDevco filed a perjury case and a libel case against Casanova and BCDA officials over the agency’s fraud claims. Daxim Lucas in Manila, and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
