BAGUIO CITY—The Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) tried to end its debt feud with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) this week through a joint venture offer for undeveloped lands that would have raised P12.9 billion in potential profits for both government and the private firm.
But Arnel Casanova, BCDA president, said the state agency turned down the offer during a May 15 meeting of the BCDA board of directors.
In a May 16 order, BCDA directed CJHDevco, the developer of Camp John Hay, to vacate the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ), declaring it has terminated the CJHDevco lease agreement because of eight contractual breaches. Among these breaches is CJHDevco’s allegedly fraudulent attempt to settle its debts with a property that had been previously sold to another buyer.
The notice was addressed to CJHDevco chairman Robert John Sobrepeña and CJHDevco president Ferdinand Santos.
BCDA and CJHDevco have been feuding since December 2011 after the Sobrepeña-led firm stopped paying rent and rescinded a 2008 restructured lease deal with BCDA, owing to the agency’s allegedly unfulfilled obligations to the company.
On April 27, Baguio Regional Trial Court Judge Cleto Villacorta III issued an injunction against any attempt that BCDA may make to take over Camp John Hay because of CJHDevco’s disputed P3-billion rental debts.
Alfredo Yñiguez III, CJHDevco executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the firm reached out to BCDA to end the stalemate by offering to pay P500 million as part of its rent settlement.
Yñiguez also said CJHDevco proposed to undertake a joint venture deal “which would generate P12.9 billion in revenues to the government, adding
P5.4 billion more to government compared to what they would have received under the [2008 restructured lease].”
The proposal covers about 43 hectares of land inside the 290-ha JHSEZ that is outside the 247-ha leased area of CJHDevco. The remaining 400 ha of Camp John Hay composed the area’s protected forest reservation. But BCDA rejected the offer. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Amy Remo in Manila