Martial ruler

After its invasion of the new upscale project of the SM group at the BGC, or Bonifacio Global City, using a multitude of security men armed with high-caliber weapons, the BCDA finally tried to justify its sneaky attack by citing the law of the land.

Apparently, at least according to the Bases Conversion Development Authority, the project called SM Aura Premier was illegal. And, if it would not be too much to ask the almighty BCDA, what made it illegal?

Certainly, it was not because the BCDA suddenly obtained immense judicial power that it could declare something illegal on its own just like that, without going through the boring chore of filing cases in courts.

According to the BCDA armed personnel, they were following an “order” to stop the construction of the access road to the SM Aura project.

I mean, a mere order from upstairs these days would be enough to sabotage a P3.5-billion investment such as the SM Aura? We are not still under martial rule, are we?

Anyway, it seems that the law (RA 7917 amending the original law on the conversion of military bases in the country) required that 40 hectares of the entire BGC should be retained as national and local government centers, sports facilities and parks.

That was 40 hectares. The total area of the SM Aura property was only about 3.5 hectares. And so by the power vested in them by themselves, the bright martial rulers of BCDA decided that those 40 hectares, which the law reserved for government centers and other public areas in BGC, would have to be the exact same location of the SM Aura.

And they had to wait for three long years, after the SM group was done with the construction of the SM Aura, so huge an edifice that even the blind would not miss it, before the BCDA would even try to use its infinite judicial power to stop it with the use of heavily armed personnel. There—three years! Not to mention the total investments poured into the project by the group of taipan Henry Sy, amounting to P3.5 billion already, and still counting.

It did not matter to the brilliant and omnipotent boys of the BCDA that, precisely, the SM Aura Premier was not designed as just one of those malls of the SM group, because it would house government centers, sports facilities and parks.

Here is the thing: The project was in effect a joint project of the SM group and the city government of Taguig, a public-private partnership, known as PPP in the Aquino (Part II) administration, which our leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS) has been espousing for our economic development.

We all know that the BCDA donated the property to the Taguig city government. About five years ago, the city government decided to make the property a revenue center, instead of the white elephant cost-guzzler that the “investors” in BGC wanted for the property.

It seems that the city government figured it would have to spend tons of money to build and maintain police station, fire fighting contingent, satellite city hall, health center and such in the property.

In effect, by donating the land to the city government, the BCDA would simply escape all the costs associated with the upkeep of the civic center, passing them on to the city government of Taguig.

The Taguig city council must have figured it out, because it passed a resolution to change the “land use” of the BCDA-donated property while at the same time the change would still comply with the zoning requirements for the area.

The city government then held a public bidding to lease to any developer, which was won by the SM group, thus paving the way for the construction of the SM Aura project starting in 2010, or right when the Aquino (Part II) administration came into power, meaning, that the present leadership in BCDA was already in place.

According to the SM group, the design and mixed-use concept of the SM Aura precisely followed the city council resolution (officially known as Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution No. 218).

Passed by the council in 2009, the resolution allowed construction of various facilities within the “civic center area” like supermarket, department store, cinemas, convention hall, local government and private offices and retail shops, although it also defined other uses like hotel, clinic, museum, place of worship, school and public library.

As it turned out, the SM Aura would have the SMX, a trade hall that Taguig would also use as convention center, plus the office tower that would house city government offices.

In other words, Taguig city government was able to build a civic center without spending a single centavo. Also, the LGU would generate revenues from the lease contract, which the government could use to serve the poor people of Taguig, by building classrooms and health care centers, instead of just serving the rich people of the BGC.

And the BCDA did not want that?

Perhaps it had other shabby reasons behind that dreadful high-caliber-weapon attack against the SM project—like an axe to grind against the SM group, which already obtained an injunction against the BCDA over another 30-hectare property, originally awarded to the SM group, only to be withdrawn by the BCDA.

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Here is another incident connected to cases filed by the BCDA against John Robert Sobrepeña, chair of the Fil Estate group that was recently acquired by real estate firm Megaworld of Andrew Tan.

The last I heard, Sobrepeña was poised to file cases against several officials of the Bureau of Immigration who last week plucked him out of a PAL aircraft which was already about to take off on a flight to the United States, in effect barring him from leaving the country at the last minute.

Supposedly, the BI officials told Sobrepeña that they received a call from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prevent him from leaving the country because of certain cases filed against him by the BCDA.

Really now, a mere phone call these days would be enough for such a contentious case as suspending a citizen’s right to travel?

Anyway, the Fil Estate group (now known as Global Estate after the Megaworld takeover) and the BCDA have been filing cases against each other over the Camp John Hay project.

Still, Sobrepeña was never prevented from leaving the country in the past. Precisely in anticipation of the martial-rule type of harassment in this country, Sobrepeña obtained a letter from De Lima, saying that the government could not prevent him from exercising his right to travel. In fact, there was no hold-departure order on him.

Still, top officials of the BI at the airport insisted that Sobrepeña could not take the PAL flight, creating an embarrassing scene at the aircraft, delaying even the PAL flight for hundreds of other passengers.

Sobrepeña must have figured that the BI officials were in another one of those martial-rule modes, and so he agreed to deplane.

Surprise—now outside the airport, after hailing a cab, Sobrepeña received word from the BI officials, who were even accompanied by gun-toting security personnel, that he could not yet leave the airport. You know—he was to be held at the BI offices.

I mean, really now, we are not still under martial rule, are we?