Punchline
Metro Plaza + MC Adore
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE stage for the cloak-and-dagger sale of MC Adore is set.
The indicators are evident that the Lim administration is not eager to give up an expensive asset of the city for a song just to any Tom, Dick and Harry. Note the elaborate and careful execution of the grand conspiracy among the Mayor Benjie Lim, his cabal and the Judas 9 in the city council in the rush to sell the hotel property to nobody but –who else? – Mr. Lim and his cronies!
Because of time constraints, the execution requires perfect timing knowing that the Lim administration faces the prospect of losing to Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez in 6 months time. The situation requires no less than Mr. Lim to preside over the bids and awards committee. And true enough, he appointed himself chairman!
It grates many people’s minds that they are seeing a repeat of same script that led to the transfer of the Magsaysay Park to Mr. Lim and his cronies before the 2007 election year enabling them to start constructing what is now known as the Metro Plaza.
Fortunately (and to Mr. Lim’s dismay), the construction was suspended by the Al Fernandez administration when it took over the city’s reins in 2007 after Mr. Lim and his group (led by Alex Siapno, now Mr. Lim’s candidate for vice mayor) could not produce the building permit. (City Engr. Virginia Rosario adamantly refused to issue the permit because Mr. Lim’s group’s failed to comply with all the requirements stipulated by law. She was sued by Mr. Lim’s group but she was upheld by the Ombudsman).
As everyone knows today, the construction of the Metro Plaza was hurriedly resumed soon after Mr. Lim won in 2010. (Most of establishments there are now operated by Mr. Lim and his friends).
Today, it’s the MC Adore that Mr. Lim wants added to his Magic empire (that includes the Centromart) before he (or son Brian) faces the prospect of losing their vise hold on the city in 2013.
Will a new administration in 2013 finally stop this madness as well? Let’s hope it will.
* * * * *
BREACH OF CONTRACT. But there is more than meets the eye in Mr. Lim’s sordid MC Adore saga.
And again, I am not talking about how Mr. Lim initially set the stage for this virtual land-grab of the city’s prime asset, with the Judas 9 in tow, when he called for a special session of the sanggunian. (Judge Emma Torio can decide on her legacy in that case).
Neither am I talking about the how and why the Appraisal Committee pegged the minimum bidding price for the MC Adore based on the zonal value of the property instead of its market value.
I am talking about the violation of the terms set by Assets Privatization Trust (APT) for the sale of the MC Adore property to the city government as negotiated by Mr. Lim in 2004.
A former insider in the GMA administration who knew of the transactions with APT told PUNCH sources that APT’s selling price for the hotel in 2003 was already pegged at P150 M but it agreed to give a P100M discount to the city on Mr. Lim’s s representation that the building will be used to house the city hall and government offices and not for commercial purposes!
Will APT sue the city for breach of contract now that Mr. Lim wants the property sold to a private group instead of making good on his pledge to transfer the city hall and host other government agencies? And what if it turned out that it’s Mr. Lim’s group that actually bought the property?
* * * * *
JUDAS 9’S CRIMINAL LIABILITY. Today, we hear Mr. Lim glibly justifying the appraised price of P100 M with the claim that the city is gaining a 100% profit and he is, therefore, doing the city a favor. But what he is not telling Dagupeños is the fact that the property was already worth P150 M seven years ago, and the sale today will, in fact, be a breach of contract.
Did the Judas 9 know about the terms of the sale by APT and yet proceeded to grant Mr. Lim the authority to sell at P100 M? If they did, then they are equally criminally liable for they clearly have pecuniary interests in the sale.
If they didn’t, then it behooves them to initiate an official and public inquiry with APT. But why do I think they won’t? Take a guess. Hint: P1.5 M question.
* * * * *
COLLATERAL DAMAGE? I thank Pangasinan Star editor Behn Hortaleza for his feedback on what he described as the “collateral damage” caused by my listing of private individuals and organizations that participated in critical decision-making processes for the city in this corner.
Firstly, I need to disabuse minds of those who feel they have been unjustly painted in the wrong light. I have nothing but admiration for civic groups and professionals that involve themselves in governance pro bono, all in the spirit of community development. Then, I am not in some personal feud with Mayor Lim. Trabaho lang po!
Having said that, it was not I but the Lim administration that made them “collateral damage” if there was such a thing. I would not have identified them if Mr. Lim and his subalterns did not invoke their participation as an argument to defend the highly irregular recommendations.
Note that the Lim administration conveniently washed its dirty hands off the recommendations of the Appraisal Committee (MC Adore issue) and the Local Development Council (Annual Investment Plan) and pointed to the list of private groups as principal participants. Since Mayor Lim made them accountable to the city, it is only fair to the city that those accountable are clearly identified.
And if suspicions are rife that those who participated in the deliberations of AIP possibly accepted “tokens”, it was all because, like the Judas 9, no one came forward to defend their recommendations even after Onor-onor Jess Canto pointed his fingers at them as the ones who approved the controversial recommendations.
So, let’s hear their answers. Why did you endorse the use of public funds for Centromart? And why did you approve a P23 M annual allocation for a primary lying-in hospital for 20 beds (over a 6 year period)?
In the case of MC Adore Appraisal Committee, will at least one of the 3 private groups justify why they pegged a minimum bid on a zonal value, and not market value. If government already pegged the property at P150 M as early as 2003, and the zonal value in 2007 at P120 M, what justification did they have to reduce it to P100 M?
To my friends in the private sector: I know it is an honor to be invited by the city government to participate in a decision-process making, but surely you are also aware that once you enlist or accept the invitation, the responsibility to be transparent and accountable is presumed…and this is exactly what the Lim administration just invoked. It wants you, not they, to account!
In the spirit of true transparency and accountability, it’s time acquit yourselves as true professionals. It’s too late to remain silent. You have been tagged by Mayor Lim as active participants in these controversial public issues.
Your fellow Dagupeños await your answers.
