Golfers urge CDC to cancel Korea firm’s contract

CLARK FREEPORT—Members of the Mimosa Golf and Country Club Association Inc. (MMGCCAI) has asked the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) to cancel its contract with a Korean company whose operations allegedly violate the rights of regular members and spoil three golf courses here.

The one-year P70-million contract should be considered illegal because High Society Leisure and Development Corp. (HSLDC) failed to pay the government the minimum guaranteed amount of P16 million under the original memorandum of agreement (MOA), said lawyer Leonor Infante, MMGCCAI president.

Receiving a 30-day extension period under the amended MOA, HSLDC only managed to pay P3 million, Infante added.

The amount covered advanced payments for villa accommodation, food and beverage, golf slots (reserved tee time) and cart rentals in Montevista and Mimosa, which the CDC should have privatized after the government took over the estate in 1998 from former Tourism Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez over unpaid leases.

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach HSLDC president Thomas Choi or his Filipino representative through lawyer Restituto Capulong, manager of the Mimosa special projects office.

In a Sept. 20, 2011 letter to CDC president Felipe Antonio Remollo, Choi expressed regret for “noncompliance” with the first MOA, and sought two months to settle the P16 million guarantee and pay for daily operations.

Remollo said HSLDC had paid P8 million.

The firm does not have an exclusive contract and has been allowed to only bring in players to help increase the revenue of Mimosa, which drew a net income of between P16 million and P20 million yearly, he said.

“The issues are related to the matter of implementation, and these will be solved when Mimosa is privatized,” Remollo told the Inquirer.

Infante said the contract also allowed Korean tourists brought in by HSLDC to enjoy the privileges of regular members, violating their exclusive use of the Lakeview and Acacia courses.

The greens are crowded with 400 to 600 players daily, said Allan Dungao, one of the founders of MMGCCAI.

Where it used to take four hours to play, now people have to endure six to eight hours because the courses are always full, he said.

Capulong dismissed the figures supplied by Dungao, saying the contract allowed 27 slots per flight, or 108 players daily.

Koreans are allowed only 12 slots at Lakeview and Acacia when the Mountain View course is being maintained, Capulong said.

“We support tourism, but we hope the greens of Mimosa are adequately maintained for the benefit of regular members and visitors,” he said.

Dick Clark, MMGCCAI vice president, said the CDC earned P110 million from the operations of the Mimosa golf courses last year.  Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon