BCDA shrugs off new suit, calls case a ‘desperate act’

State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Sunday dismissed as a “desperate act” the filing of the P14.4-billion arbitration case by the Sobrepeña-led Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) against it.

According to BCDA, the case supposedly stemmed from a “failed lease contract,” which the BCDA deemed to be ironic considering that it was CJHDevCo that failed to pay its obligations since the signing of a restructuring agreement between the two parties in July 2008.

These obligations have now ballooned to P3.024 billion, according to BCDA chairman Felicito Payumo.

In a statement, Payumo also stressed that there should be no questions about the amount of the arrears.

He pointed out that the fact “that CJHDevCo signed a restructured memorandum of agreement on July 1, 2008, was an acknowledgment of its obligations.”

Payumo also clarified that the ruling of the Supreme Court, which revoked the tax privileges in the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) in 2003, was already a non-issue as it has already been rectified when Congress restored the tax incentives to the locators of JHSEZ in 2007.

“That was the reason why a deferment of payments had been granted and three restructurings had been done,” he added.

To recall, the 25-year lease agreement between BCDA and CJHDevCo was signed in 1996.

CJHDevCo had first requested and was eventually allowed by the government in August 1999 to defer payments for leases incurred in 1997 and 1998.

This was then followed by three restructuring agreements, which were signed in July 14, 2000; July 18, 2003; and finally, July 1, 2008.

It was this last restructuring agreement that CJHDevCo had wanted to rescind.

Payumo also shrugged off as an “old issue” the One Stop Action Center row, which the CJHDevCo has been trying to resurrect as an excuse to evade payments.