Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Veteran's group to fix lease to settle dispute By Jane Cadalig
OFFICERS of the war veteran's organization in Benguet were told to correct the contract of lease they entered into with an educational center, saying there are lacking documents to sustain the validity of the agreement.
The Benguet Provincial Board on Tuesday advised the war heroes quarreling over the lease of the 3,000 square meter provincial lot to settle the row among them and complete the lacking documents needed in the lease contract.
Earlier, a member of the veteran's organization told the Board on the questionable lease contract.
Complainant Tino Aticao said the organization's head Robert Villasi signed a 25 year lease contract with Global Light Learning Center Inc. without first consulting his members.
Villasi explained to the Board that the 11 officers of the veteran's organization approved the lease contract except for Aticao.
He said the agreement was signed in order to raise funds to be used for the maintenance and preservation of the veteran's park.
Global Light is paying P7,000 a month rent to the two-storey building established at the veteran's park. The rent is subject to an annual increase of five percent to 10 percent in case of renewal starting January 1, 2007.
It was disclosed before the Board though the lease contract, signed September 1, 2006, was only presented to officers after this was already signed and there was no formal authority for Villasi to sign the contract.
Villasi said the officers agreed on the lease contracts in one of their meetings. "This was contained in our minutes of meeting," he claimed.
It was also learned the lot was not donated to the veterans but was only set aside by the Provincial Government in 1984 for their use.
Global Light, represented by Edwin Bandao, is a non-profit organization composed of the sons and daughters of the veterans. The number of members however was not immediately known, as Bandao said only five are actual signatories in the incorporation papers.
Bandao said there are other members of Global Light but only five signed so it could comply with the requirements of incorporation.
Vice Governor Crescensio Pacalso said the veteran's should correct the lease contract and advised its officers to be transparent in all their undertakings to avoid complaints like this.
He also said the contract should be reviewed and corrected to sustain its validity.
"All the matters agreed upon during your meetings should be put on paper for transparency," Pacalso stressed.
"We will give them time to fix the contract and come out with the supporting documents, so that its validity will not be questionable," he added.
