EVEN before the “former political has-been” could assume office after winning in the 2016 elections, his first act was to find ways to rescind the contract between the City Government and the three real estate developers that bought lots at the South Road Properties (SRP) during the administration of then mayor Michael Rama. Rama sold 45.2 hectares of SRP lots to SM Prime Holdings, Ayala Land Inc., and Filinvest Land Inc. for P16 billion. The companies paid P8 billion in advance.
The “former political has-been” claimed that the sale was anomalous because the floor price was only pegged at P38,000 per square meter with the buyers paying the capital gains tax. He said he could have sold it at P110,000 per square meter. But up to now, his battery of lawyers failed to rescind the contract.
Why? I don’t know. But if you ask some lawyers, they would tell you that it’s hard to rescind the contract because the sale was above board and valid as it went to legal and tedious process. It passed the scrutiny of the City Council and a bidding was conducted.
A certain Romulo Torres later filed a case against the City Council headed by Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella that approved the deal. He questioned the transaction and asked the court to prohibit the City Government from using the proceeds of the sale.
Torres, a former prosecutor, said the money should not be spent pending resolution of the question of whether the mode of disposing the lots at SRP by public bidding was valid. But I suspect Torres is just a pawn. Meaning, somebody must have used him to scuttle the deal.
The City Attorney said it is now drafting the memorandum of agreement between the City and Torres and with the three developers to end the legal issues confronting the sale. This, after the City Council, through the minions of the “former political has-been,” authorized him to negotiate for the settlement of the pending cases. If he has enough grounds to rescind the contract, why go for settlement? Ipadayon ang kiha.
I can only surmise that he is doing this because it is election time. He needs money for his candidacy. He wants these developers to contribute to his campaign kitty. Or he just wants to “neutralize” their contributions to the opposition. If these cases will go on, for sure the three giant developers would pour their resources to the opposition thinking their development would go on with no hindrance with it at the helm.
The effort of the “former political has-been” to rescind the contract was harassment and a “resbak” against the buyers. Why? Before Rama made the deal, the “former political has-been,” who was a civilian at that time after his defeat in the 2013 elections, told the three developers not to deal with Rama. He told them to wait until he goes back to City Hall. But the three developers did not heed his advise and proceeded with the deal with Rama. That is why he was very angry and warned the buyers that he will do whatever he can do to scuttle the deal. That is the real story.
This settlement is meant to satisfy his personal and business agenda.