Thai investors seek P9-billion refund

Italian Development (BV) Co. Ltd. (Ital-Thai) and Centasia Group Ltd., two major foreign investors of the 750-hectare Manila Bay reclamation project developed by Amari Coastal Bay Development Corp. filed a motion yesterday for intervention seeking the reimbursement of expenses amounting to P9 billion.

In its 59-page motion, Ital-Thai and Centasia, both Thai-owned companies, said it is stipulated in the Amended Joint Venture Agreement dated March 30, 1999 between Amari and the Public Estates Authority (PEA) that all expenses the property firm would incur in the fulfillment of its contractual obligations and for its reclamation and development services, will be paid either in kind (reclaimed land) or in cash.

Last July 9, 2002, the Supreme Court ruled the AJVA as null and void.

"With the SC decision, foreign investors face the possibility of not only failing to make some profit on their investment but worse, being left unpaid for services already rendered," said the group’s legal counsel Francis Ed. Lim.

Lim pointed out that it would seem that government has unjustly enriched itself despite the existence of laws to allow such form of repayment.

"Worse, this sends an alarming message to the world that the Philippine government and its system of laws, including its Chief Executive, is a party whose word cannot be relied upon," Lim said.

While the original JVA was approved in 1995 by both the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and the Office of the President, the Amended JVA signed in March 1999, received the approval of various government agencies, including the Office of the President and the Government Corporate Monitoring and Coordinating Committee composed of the Executive Secretary, Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Budget and Management, Secretary of Trade and Industry, the NEDA Director-General, the Government Corporate Counsel, the Presidential Management Staff, and the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Lim said the two firms maintained that the SC erred in its ruling because it nullified the AJVA without first invalidating the various laws that directly and specifically authorize the repayment scheme such as the payment of reclaimed land to the developer.

"The SC has disregarded the well-established operative fact doctrine, which gives legal recognition to acts done pursuant to, or in reliance upon, a law prior to the declaration of its nullity," Lim pointed out.

Stockholders of the consortium include Prime Orion Phil. Inc. (Filipino-owned), Ital-Thai Development and Centasia Group (both Thai-owned corporations), Cosco Land and Amari Holdings (both Filipino-owned).

Prime Orion (formerly Guoco Holdings) also filed a motion for intervention last month saying that being a publicly listed company and a major investor in the country, it is duty bound to protect its rights and the rights of its shareholders.

"It bears emphasizing that the dire consequences of the SC decision will not only affect some faceless corporate entity but will impact directly on the innocent man on the street who has put his hard-earned money into a corporate venture which he was led to believe by his own government to be not only legitimate and aboveboard but will also be beneficial to the country as a whole," stated Prime Orion in its plea.

The project, which falls under the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road and Reclamation Project (MCCRRP) or Boulevard 2000, involves developing and improving the already reclaimed 157.8-hectare Freedom Islands as well as reclaiming another 500 hectares of still submerged areas which are adjacent to the islands.