Amid snowballing opposition to the planned development of the Baguio Athletic Bowl by a still unidentified Korean development group, a City Councilor on Friday vowed to file a measure to withdraw their confirmation of the memorandum of agreement signed by Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista last December 10.
As this developed, former youth sector representative Edgar Avila and a group of lawyers committed to pursue legal actions against personalities involved in the controversial agreement.
Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan, himself a lawyer, told the Baguio Chronicle in an interview Thursday that he had “serious reservations” about the lease agreement, and said he will support moves to file a petition for reconsideration before the City Council.
Meanwhile, Bautista, in his weekly Ugnayan press forum, downplayed reports about the mysterious Athletic Bowl developer as plain “rumors” and explained that the MOA he signed was “just a proposal” and was not final.
CLOSER LOOK
A closer look at the MOA signed by the mayor with the purported Korean group’s representative, An Ho Yul, reveals that the document did not pass through the City Legal Office.
A lawyer pointed out that normally, in contracts entered into by the city, the city legal officer’s signature is affixed below the mayor’s signature to indicate that the document underwent legal review.
In this case, the City Legal Officer’s signature was conspicuously absent in the document.
Also, the address of the alleged Korean representative was handwritten on the face of the MOA as “#20 Calla Lily Drive Navy Base Baguio City.”
The Baguio Chronicle went to the said address this week and confirmed that a Korean national by the name of An Ho Yul was renting out the orange-colored two-storey residential unit that shared the street with a coconut-processing plant.
A Korean lady, who claimed she was the wife of the alleged investors’ representative, said her husband was away on a trip to Korea and would be back next week.
The supposed development plan attached to the MOA consisted of nine pages of perspective drawings of structures to be built, and a lot plan that labeled the locations of 2-level bleachers, the existing swimming pool, a proposed golf driving range, a hotel, and a terminal.
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the computer-generated drawings had been drawn several months ago and cost a little less than P20,000.00 for the whole set.
In addition, the MOA provides that within the first five days of each calendar month, the investor shall pay the city government a monthly rate of P100,000 over the estimated seven-hectare Athletic Bowl complex. The monthly rate shall escalate every five years by ten percent within a span of 25 years.
The start of the 25-year lease period, as well as its termination date, was left blank, alongside the penalty rates in case the developer fails to pay its monthly lease on time.
AFTERMATH
The controversial MOA has stirred numerous reactions from Baguio residents here and abroad. Local editor and sports writer Pigeon Lobien started a campaign in the social networking site Facebook, and in a span of three days, accumulated a following of close to 2,000 members.
Most of the reactions posted on the site signify stiff opposition to the Athletic Bowl MOA, while some writers vented their anger at local officials, Koreans, and the present state of the country’s summer capital.
Some writers have openly campaigned against certain politicians as the rundown to the local and national elections draws near.
WITHDRAWAL
Reeling from the growing public outrage, Councilor Elaine Sembrano, in a statement, appealed to her colleagues in the City Council to withdraw their confirmation of the MOA.
“I will file the necessary legislative measure on Monday to effect the withdrawal of the Council confirmation and enjoin the City Mayor to suspend the agreement he signed with the Korean group pending the submission to and approval by the City Council of the appropriate master development plan, the investment feasibility study, and the determination that pertinent national laws have been complied (with),” she said.
She stressed that there are enough competent Filipino sports facility developers and managers that can do the job, if the city is keen in privatizing the Athletic Bowl.
She noted that when the issue was discussed by the City Council in its session last December 14, it was agreed that development plans were to be endorsed to the University of the Cordilleras, whose engineering and architecture college was earlier commissioned by the city government to formulate and propose a master development plan for the whole Burnham Park area, including the Athletic Bowl.
But the MOA, already signed by the mayor at that time, was still ratified “without adequate deliberation” and seemed to have been done in haste, Sembrano said. “I also doubt if the city government, as mere caretaker of the sports facility, has acquired ownership rights in leasing (it) for long-term arrangements,” she added.
The University of the Cordilleras is presently finalizing its proposed master development plan for Burnham Park, which will cost the school around P2 million to complete. It was served notice of the City Council’s actions, pursuant to their December 14 session, only on January 6.
CONCERN
Sembrano’s sentiments were shared by Avila, a lawyer, who said the agreement was “wholesale plunder” and had the makings of another questionable contract.
At press time, Avila and a group of lawyers were preparing legal documents and gathering jurisprudence to contest the agreement.
He intends to raise the following legal arguments against the Athletic Bowl MOA:
–The inclusion of a restaurant, terminal, golf driving range for a fee has converted it into a business area.  Athletic Bowl is part of the Burnham Park Reservation and in Cavite vs. Roxas, the Supreme Court declared that “parks are beyond the commerce of man”;
–The MOA came from an unsolicited proponent. The same cannot be awarded unilaterally by the Mayor through a negotiated bid.  There must be Notice and open invitation to bid printed in a newspaper of general circulation and thereafter bidded according to the government procurement rules.
–The MOA is totally disadvantageous to government as it pegs a rental of P100,000.00 a month the use of prime property.
–Since the MOA converted ATHLETIC BOWL into a private enterprise,  the Korean Operator may charge atlethes and students from Baguio City High, UP and other schools entry fees for the use of the same.
–No ECC Compliance, Developmental plan or even terms of references were ever submitted.
–The Swimming pool was built out of government funds and the Korean operator would use the same as part of his capital.
–Koreans are not allowed to engage in Retail Trade and by including restaurants, golf driving ranges, jeep/bus terminals as part of the sanctioned business covered by the MOA, there is a clear violation of the Retail Trade Law.
–on these and other grounds, the government officials are liable for Graft and Corruption and possible plunder.
For his part, Domogan voiced concern over the agreement, saying it had to be withdrawn and rectified. “I am personally not opposed to development, but this has to be done the right way,” he confided.
He said he is worried about the implications of the MOA in terms of open access and use of the sports facility by Baguio residents especially the students; the absence of public hearing; and the absence of pre-qualifications and bidding procedures.—adam o. borja