Bataan, PCGG resume legal battle for Baseco ownership

The Province of Bataan and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) continue their legal battle for ownership of the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Corp. (BASECO) in Mariveles, Bataan.

During a hearing Wednesday, June 22, at the Second Division of the Supreme Court, oral arguments were given by both the lawyers of the PCGG and the province of Bataan.

The PCGG is trying to recover the BASECO property from the Province of Bataan which the PCGG had sequestered from Alfredo "Bejo" Romualdez, the brother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.

The Province of Bataan, under then and current Gov. Enrique Garcia, had been able to acquire the 350 hectares waterfront property in 1988 after the province ordered the auction of the said property for failure of its then owner to pay the required real estate taxes amounting to a little over P7.9 billion.

There were no bidders for the property during the auction, allowing the Province of Bataan to consolidate the titles of the property and finalize ownership after a one-year mandatory redemption period lapsed without any attempt by the previous owner and even the PCGG to redeem the disputed property.

However, the PCGG in 1993 contested the acquisition of the property by the Province of Bataan, claiming that they had already sequestered the property from Romualdez much earlier in 1986 and that since the property was under sequestration, it was exempt from the payment of real estate taxes.

In the meantime, however, the Province of Bataan has been able to lease out the waterfront properties and is earning approximately P150 million a year in rental fees.

The PCGG has also petitioned the Courts to stop the Province of Bataan from collecting the lease/rental payments and redirect the payments to the PCGG.

In an interview with Gov. Garcia, he questioned the PCGG’s continuing interest in reacquiring the BASECO property for the government, when the government, through the Province of Bataan, has already effectively secured the contested land.

He pointed out that further development of the said property is only being hindered by the continued litigation.

In fact, Garcia warned, while the PCGG wants to "regain" ownership of the title to the BASECO property in Bataan, a loss on the part of the Province of Bataan would mean that the title goes back to Romualdez since the sequestration up to this date has not yet been definitively decided in favor of the PCGG yet.