Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Malig: Bidding for True North By Jun A. Malig Cognition
TO MANIFEST its commitment to lawful processes and transparency, the Clark Development Corporation (CDC), through its president, Liberato "Levy" Laus, and the members of the Board has decided to conduct a public bidding for the lease of the Clark Leisure Hills (formerly True North Golf and Country Club) and Clark Tierra Verde II inside the Clark Freeport.
The CDC is not obliged to abide by the legal opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel that public bidding is necessary for the leasing of the properties. But in the spirit of transparency, and since it was Mr. Laus who initially sought the OGCC's opinion on the matter, the state-owned firm is willing to respect it.
Earlier, a selection process dubbed "best and final offer" for the development of the long neglected True North and Tierra Verde II was conducted. Of the five investors that participated, a Korean firm, Focus Co. Ltd., emerged with the best offer of US$62,648,704. The next best offer came from Century Properties at US$35,2333,731; followed by J&K Golf Training with US$25,033,382 offer; and the Totoo-Eastridge Fiesta Development Corp. that offered US$16,031,240. The Phoenix Resource Management Corp. of Ambassador Donald Dee came up with the lowest offer of US$12,337,437.
Naturally, Focus came out as the winner with its best and final offer. However, aside from the OGCC lawyers' legal opinion, there seems to be a strong force behind the nullity of the selection process. But, of course, the offered presented by the five investors should not be simply forgotten, as they present the financial capabilities of each company in developing the properties and in providing much needed employment opportunities to local folk.
It won't look good in the eyes of the public and the international business community if a company that has a best and final offer of only some US$12 million would eventually grab the right to develop the two properties from an investor that has committed almost US$63 million in development and operational resources. Patronage politics or "palakasan at impluwensya system" has no place in a supposedly world-class economic zone like Clark and Subic.
If it is true that some Metro Manila-based wealthy and influential persons have been exerting their "muscles" in Malacañang to keep the contract to develop Clark Leisure Hills and Clark Tierra Verde II away from the more financially capable investors, this should be revealed to the public. If transparency is truly the name of the game in Philippine democracy, each and every undertaking related to the public bidding for the lease of the two properties must be properly recorded and publicized. The public no longer needs an issue that may further weaken its trust and confidence in the country's political and economic leaders.
This paper reported on Monday that the investors were represented by the following: JC Soliman of Totoo-Eastridge; Im Jang Bing, chairman of Focus; David Kim, president and CEO of J&K; Resty Ingal of Century Properties; and Donald Dee, president of Phoenix Resource Management.
Officials of the Century Properties and J&K, who both failed to bag the lease contract, have already commended the CDC for its integrity and transparency in the conduct of the selection process, according to Laus.
This paper earlier reported that Dee of Phoenix Resource Management has questioned the selection process, reportedly saying it was his firm that presented the best offer. But the CDC is firm in its position that all the procedures involved in the selection process were aboveboard. The state-owned firm's officials even disclosed that the proceedings were even videotaped for the sake of transparency and fair play.
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The mothballed True North located near the Clark Polytechnic used to be advertised as a "36-hole championship golf course designed by Nick Faldo and Nancy Lopez."
On August 25, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission officially revoked the registration of True North Golf and Country Club, Inc. and ordered it to refund in full the investments of purchasers of its securities. The revocation of its registration was made some eight months after the SEC suspended its registration "for its failure to settle the total assessed penalty" of P164,238 and submit required corporate reports and concrete plans to complete the project within strict time period.
For the readers' information, Donald Dee is the past president and current chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was appointed by Malacañang as ambassador and special envoy for International Trade Negotiations. He is a commissioner of the Social Security System, a member of the Textile Negotiating Panel, advisor of the Garments and Textile Export Board, and export champion of the Export Development Council (EDC).
Dee also serves as chairman and president of Yarn Ventures Resources, Inc.; president of Redson Textile Manufacturing Corporation; director of Export and Industry Bank and the Manila Exposition Complex, Inc; and council member of the ASEAN-Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).
