Cyber Bay to challenge SC ruling

Publicly-listed property development firm Cyber Bay Development Corp. yesterday said it is preparing moves to challenge the recent Supreme Court ruling nullifying its multi-billion peso deal with the government on a massive land reclamation and development project along the coastal portion of Manila.

In a short disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Cyber Bay said they have received an official copy of the SC decision and have referred this to their legal counsels for proper action.

"Our lawyers are currently studying the case in preparation for the filing of a motion for reconsideration with the SC," the company said in a statement.

Last July 9, the SC permanently stopped Cyber Bay and its government partner, the Public Estates Authority (PEA), from implementing a 1995 joint venture agreement (JVA) involving about 750 hectares of land along the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road set for reclamation and development into a modern, integrated township.

In an en banc resolution, the SC said the government could only validly turn over lands of the public domain to qualified private parties. Due to the Constitutional limit on foreign ownership, only Filipino nationals are allowed to own land in the country.

Cyber Bay is a consortium made up of Filipino investors led by San Miguel vice chairman and president Ramon Ang and major foreign stockholders led by Italian Thai Development Co. Ltd. and Amari Holdings Inc., which combine for around 21 percent of the company’s equity.

Cyber Bay absorbed Central Bay Development Corp. as its wholly-owned subsidiary after the latter signed the JVA when it was formerly the foreign-controlled Amari Coastal Bay Development Corp.

Under the JVA, the government will take in a 30-percent share as part of the revenue sharing scheme once the project takes off toward full commercial operations. Except for about P2 billion in reimbursement for actual costs in the land reclamation, Cyber Bay will shoulder the rest of the project costs.

To be positioned as the center of tourism in Metro Manila, the Cyber Bay project will incorporate modern infrastructure and a sophisticated transit system complemented by a world-class golf course and bayside residential community, a marina and a boardwalk.