BCDA to Camp John Hay Corp.: No moves to take over

Saturday, January 28, 2012

BASES Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and Chief Executive Officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said there are no moves to take over.

“The Sobrepeña-led CJHDevCo (Camp John Hay Development Corp.) has no basis for securing a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a takeover of CJHDevCo’s leased properties in the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) because there was no attempt to take over the leased properties,” Cassanova said.

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“They’re afraid of their own ghost which they created trying to evade their huge obligation to the government,” he added, pointing out that CJHDevCo’s grounds are “speculative and born out of their own paranoia.”

Cassanova said the move is to evade paying over P3 billion in debt.

Executive Judge Iluminada Cabato issued a three-day TRO, which took effect January 24, based on allegations the BCDA plans to take over, stressing CJHDevCo will suffer irreparable damages if a takeover ensues.

But Cassanova said: “Like all their past actions and statements, CJHDevCo has even misled the court, giving the impression that the firm is the victim, on the contrary, it is the government and the public who is suffering damage while CJHDevCo continues to benefit from John Hay without giving government its due.”

“They have no legal basis to unilaterally rescind the 2008 RMOA,” Casanova said, adding that they may “have shot themselves at the foot,” since there is no longer a working contract between BCDA and CJHDevCo.

A week after the rescission, CJHDevCo officials filed for arbitration and are claiming P14.4 billion in damages, “desperately making it appear they are the aggrieved parties.”

Alfredo Yñiguez III, CJHDevCo executive vice president and chief operating officer, welcomed the court’s decision and said the TRO was sought for obvious reasons and actions of the state-run BCDA and John Hay Management Corporation camp which beefed up security days ago giving them an inkling of a takeover.

Yñiguez said the sole request for the BCDA and JHMC was to set up a functional One-Stop Action Center which did not push through. Delay in permits halted development, robbing CJHDevCo of a chance to profit.