Alphaland owner: Nothing irregular with Boy Scouts deal

MANILA, Philippines — Alphaland Corp. reiterated on Wednesday that there nothing irregular in its joint venture agreement with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

During the Senate hearing on the corruption allegations against Vice President Jejomar Binay, Alphaland owner and former trade minister Roberto Ongpin denied former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado's allegations that the Boy Scouts were shortchanged in the deal.

"Alphaland Corporation ... takes the strongest exception to the allegations of Mercado that the Boy Scouts got a raw deal in this project," Ongpin told the Senate panel.

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Ongpin added that both Alphaland and the Boy Scouts "will make a lot of money" from the transaction.

"We repeat in the strongest possible terms that there was nothing irregular or underhanded in the Alphaland Boy Scout deal. Everything was and is above board," Ongpin told the Senate panel.

The Alphaland owner admitted that a P100 million libel case was filed against Mercado last week for his allegations against the company. He maintained that Mercado's were meaningless and false.

"We will aggressively pursue this case," Ongpin said.

Mercado also alleged that Binay got up to P651 million in kickbacks from the land deal between the Boy Scouts and Alphaland.

The Boy Scouts earlier denied Mercado's claims that Binay received P188.9 million from the said project.

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