The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) declared a failure of bidding for the P16.5-billion “Payanig sa Pasig” property at the Ortigas Center after only one company attended the auction on Tuesday.
As it made the announcement, the agency revealed that its members had received “threats” from unnamed parties who wanted to stop the bidding.
Of the three prequalified bidders, Robinsons Land Corp. was the only company that attended the bidding for the 18.5-hectare property, which was surrendered to the government nearly three decades ago by Jose Y. Campos, an associate of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
The two other prequalified bidders were Ayala Corp.’s subsidiary Next Urban Alliance Development Corp. and Megaworld Corp.
Shortly after the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, Campos surrendered to the PCGG the two land titles of the mixed-use property owned by Mid-Pasig Land Development Corp. The land, which came to be known as “Payanig” because of the big carnival it once hosted, is bordered by three major thoroughfares in Pasig City, namely Ortigas, Meralco and Doña Julia Vargas Avenues.
Hounded by issues
Earlier this year, then PCGG Chair Andres Bautista said the commission was selling Payanig on an “as-is-where-is” basis since issues have continued to hound the property. (Bautista was appointed chair of the Commission on Elections on May 4).
While the government has the land titles to the property, tenants occupying a significant portion of the area, claimed by former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson’s Blemp Commercial Philippines Inc., have not paid rent to the PCGG, Bautista then said.
Despite the failure of bidding, the PCGG said it remains optimistic about the property’s future. “The fact that several major developers in the country were interested to participate in the bidding has given the commission enough reason to continue with its mandate of overseeing ownership of the property on behalf of the national government.
Despite threats
“The commission is pleased that, despite the numerous attempts by various groups to stop the bidding, including issuance of threats to members of the commission, no court orders were issued to restrain the bidding and it still pushed through as scheduled,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
Katrina Peña, the agency’s public information chief, declined to elaborate when asked about the threats in a phone interview.
The PCGG added that it would continue to pursue cases against illegal tenants occupying the area. It will also study the possibility of a negotiated sale or a rebidding of the property, while it widens its options on how to make full use of the property.
“One option that the commission is contemplating is to reserve an area in the property for government institutions that will need to establish an office within the prime business district,” it said.
As of June this year, the government has already lost around P2 billion in revenue from the tenants illegally occupying the property, it added.–With a report from Miguel R. Camus