Cops back takeover of Subic water park

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) are investigating security breaches allegedly committed by Bataan policemen when they took part in the Feb. 13 management takeover of a marine theme park here.

On Thursday, SBMA Chair Martin Diño said he would also hold the agency’s law enforcement department (LED) liable for its failure to stop about 20 policemen from Morong town in Bataan province from joining the new management of Ocean Adventure in the takeover.

The takeover had terrified the theme park’s employees, Diño said.

The policemen secured the premises of Ocean Adventure when Scott Sharpe, the new chief executive officer of Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium Inc. (SBMEI), took over the management of the park, one of the tourist attractions in the free port.

SBMEI, which operates Ocean Adventure, was previously managed by Arthur Tai, who was removed from his position by a majority of its shareholders allegedly due to breach of trust and loss of confidence.

Sharpe is one of the founding owners of SBMEI.

“We have about 800 law enforcers here and the takeover should have been coordinated with the LED,” Diño told reporters. “They should have the necessary papers or court order.”

He said the leadership row might qualify as a continuing threat on the free port, so the SBMA would “apply all legal remedies to resolve the issue.”

“I don’t interfere in the corporate dispute but there must be a proper coordination with the SBMA in executing the takeover,” he added.

SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma said the presence of the policemen during the takeover created a “highly volatile situation” at the free port.

“The actions taken by the new SBMEI management … were clearly not in accordance with proper and lawful procedures strictly enforced in the free port,” Eisma said in a statement.

Gail Laule, an SBMEI shareholder, said Sharpe requested the presence of the policemen during the takeover to assure the “peaceful enforcement of a court order,” which affirmed the revocation of the voting trust agreement that management had given to Tai.

Eisma ordered SBMEI to explain why the incident happened, the status of its intracorporate cases and the changes in its corporate officers and employees resulting from the dispute.

“We are expecting SBMEI’s full cooperation to ensure that nothing of this sort will happen again, settle its internal disputes and normalize the operations of Ocean Adventure,” she said.

Despite the leadership dispute, the theme park remains open for business, according to Laule.

Diño also invited the Department of Labor and Employment to a dialogue with SBMEI officials in the wake of allegations that some employees were not being paid when the new management team took over.