Court stops sale of Bacolod land to Ayala

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Court of Appeals on Wednesday issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Negros Occidental provincial government from proceeding with the sale and lease of a 7.7-hectare prime property in Bacolod City.

The TRO stemmed from a petition for certiorari filed by SM Prime Holdings Inc., which has insisted that it won the July 7 public bidding for the property. SMPHI posted a P50-million bond.

In a three-page resolution, the CA 20th Division said the request for a TRO was granted to “preserve the rights of the parties during the pendency of the instant petition, as well as to prevent the judgement that may be promulgated in this case from being rendered ineffectual.”

Among the petition’s respondents were the province of Negros Occidental, Gov. Alfredo G. Marañon Jr., and the committee on awards and disposal of real properties of the province and its members—Patrick Lacson, Mary Ann Manyon-Lamis, Nelda Geroso, Lucille I. Pinongan and Ernie F. Mapa.

Included were the provincial board members as well as Judge Estefanio S. Libutan Jr. of Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 50.

Superior bid

The CA directed Libutan to refrain from implementing his order denying SMPHI’s petition for a TRO to block the sale of the property to Ayala Land Inc.

SMPHI has insisted that it “clearly” submitted a bid superior to Ayala’s and was surprised when the bidding was declared a failure.

Judge Libutan, however, did not issue a TRO but instead asked the respondents to comment on SMPHI’s petition. The company decided to elevate its petition to the CA.

SMPHI had proposed to purchase a portion of the province-owned property for P18,885 per square meter and lease the remaining portion for P65 per sqm, well within the price set by the awards committee.

Ayala, on the other hand, submitted a bid of P17,000 per sqm for the purchase and P50 per sqm for the lease.

The provincial government declared the bidding a failure after both parties’ bids came in below the floor price set by the Commission on Audit.

Marañon said both parties were invited to a negotiated bidding on July 15 but SMPHI did not show up, leading to the award of the property to Ayala. He also said the province stood to make more from the Ayala deal.

Earlier, SMPHI lawyer Vince Bayhon said the award of the prime property to Ayala was “invalid.”

Bayhon also questioned the provincial government’s decision to declare a failure of bidding.

No floor price

He noted that the provincial government did not disclose the floor price or appraisal value of the property during the public bidding and even after the sealed bids of both parties were opened and read aloud.

The award of the property to Ayala, however, is supported by four business groups and the Bacolod city council.

“With the decision to develop the property into a mixed-used integrated project that includes residential, commercial, office, hotel and convention center developments, we believe jobs will be created and visitors will be enticed to visit the province,” they said.

The signatories were Roberto Montelibano, regional governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Western Visayas; Frank Carbon, president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry; John Yap, president of the Southern Negros Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Lucio Chua, president of the Northern Negros Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.