Baguio council moves to end market deal
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The city council on Monday revived a measure that would terminate the 1996 lease contract of debt-ridden Uniwide Sales and Realty Corp., which failed to put up a modern Baguio public market.
Locked in litigation for 20 years because of a lawsuit filed by a group of market vendors, the Uniwide contract was declared constitutional by the Supreme Court four years ago.
However, no development has taken place since 2015 although the company has assured the city that it will pursue the project.
Uniwide offered to build an eight-story market to be put up on a hill, where Ibaloy, migrant Filipinos and Americans used to congregate during market days in the 1930s. The Baguio market, known for its fresh produce and assortment of “pasalubong,” is among the top attractions in the summer capital.
The project was stalled when leaders of market vendors’ associations challenged the validity of Uniwide’s “design, build and operate” contract. Since then, the city government has built and maintained improved market spaces, with Uniwide’s consent.
Liquidation
The company, however, has been subjected to liquidation proceedings at a court in Parañaque City after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dissolved the firm in 2013, said former Councilor Peter Fianza, who filed the first Uniwide termination measure last year.
In its decision, the SEC noted that Uniwide and its affiliates had struggled with insolvency (the condition of a company that has more liabilities than assets) since 2003.
Fianza said he pushed for legislation to end the deal “because of the order to liquidate Uniwide which [the court] considered dissolved and would not be allowed to implement contracts it entered into in accordance with Republic Act No. 10142 (the Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act of 2010).”
The measure would direct the city government to inform Uniwide’s liquidators about the termination so the court would have the discretion to include all or set aside company assets, Fianza said.
Master plan
The council action took place on the same day Mayor Benjamin Magalong instructed the city government to map out the master plan for a modern market.
The market was cited as among the chief sources of pollution of rivers that flow through neighboring towns in Benguet province. Sludge from the market area goes to giant water drains built by the American colonial government in the early 1900s.
“We need to plan even before all legal matters are resolved. We can’t plan after it’s settled,” Magalong told the city’s department heads during a meeting. —Vincent Cabreza
