THE proponent of the multi-billion Davao Coastline and Port Development project expressed dismay over the termination of the project, following Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio's announcement last July 25, that the city will no longer pursue the big-ticket project after over a year of careful review and study.
"We cannot stand by this. We are deeply concerned, even seriously alarmed, by your letter dated July 19, 2017, informing us that you have come to a final decision not to further proceed with the project," read the July 27 letter of Mega Harbour president Engineer Victor Songco to Duterte-Carpio.
The lady mayor said the project’s commercial viability, legal and social implications, and possible effects to the environment were considered prior the decision.
“Our decision to terminate the joint venture agreement (JVA) is coupled with a resolve that Davao City can really move forward and answer the call of economic growth by implementing highly sustainable projects, both commercially and environmentally,” the incumbent mayor said earlier.
The proponent company, in a response letter said, “If that, indeed is the reason for your unilateral and arbitrary decision to terminate the JVA, then this purported reason will not hold.”
“This is why we wonder why the mayor has to engage in this publicity when she has not been directly involved or has allowed to be comprehensively briefed on the project not only by Mega Harbour but should have joined the briefing with the Neda Regional Infrastructure Development Committee and the Davao City Council. This is unfair and unreasonable,” Songco’s letter adds.
Last June 21, 2016, the JVA was signed by then Davao City Mayor and now Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the father of the incumbent mayor. The JVA was also legally supported by the Davao City Council through Resolution No. 02788-16 and Ordinance No. 0515-16.
“Since then, we wasted no time and immediately undertook to comply with the prescribed procedures, as well as additional requirements, imposed by the Davao City Government in order to implement the Project,” Songco said.
Songco added that the company presented the project to the Regional Infrastructure Development Committee, submitted additional documents and agreed to an increase in the local government’s land share.
"We undertook to develop an area for about 4,000 informal settlers along coastal roads and redevelopment of coastal barangays (allocating P1.19 billion for redevelopment works, including roads and open spaces),” Songco’s letter points out.
Mega Harbour, Songco said, also secured investments (capital and technical) from various local and foreign companies, in addition to investing and expending capital of their own, in order to finance and execute the P39-billion project.
Hence, the company has begun implementing the initial phases of the project as reported in its letter updates of February 14 and March 6, 2017.
With the termination, Songco underscored that not only Mega Harbour’s international partners, suppliers and creditors are waiting for the mayor's explanations for her “mysterious” move, but also every local and foreign investor interested in investing in Davao, and global donors wanting to contribute to humanitarian efforts in Mindanao.
Duterte-Carpio, however, said in her first statement that she expects that the city's decision could bring various legal repercussions, but she is ready to face these.
The City Government, she added, is ready to respond to any question the decision may lead in the proper forum.
“I assure you, all Dabawenyos, that in coming up with this decision, the paramount consideration has been your welfare and the future of Davao City,” Duterte-Carpio said earlier.