PAREF withdraws from P1-B QC land deal

An exclusive private school for boys has formally informed Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr of its decision to back out of a controversial P1-billion land deal with the previous administration involving a 3.1 hectare subdivision lot owned by the city government.

Belmonte said the decision resolves the problem for the city government .

He said that the city government would find a way to use the lot that is acceptable to all concerned.

But officials of the PAREF-Northfield private school for boys still insist the deal it struck with the Mathay administration was above board, saying if circumstances would be "more favorable" in the future, it would be willing "to revisit the project."

"...(And) while we always believe in the project’s noble worth, we will request the Quezon City government that PAREF-Northfield school be freed from obligations of the (agreement)...," officials said in a letter sent to the mayor on Valentine’s Day, citing the decision of subdivision developer Ortigas and Company to withdraw its support for the project.

The letter was signed by Pierangelo Alejo, executive director Felix Mabanta Jr., school board chairman and Dr. Placido Mapa Jr., PAREF chairman.

The Quezon City council, on the behest of Fourth District Councilor Antonio Inton Jr. found, after an investigation on the alleged irregularities in the memorandum of agreement entered into by the Mathay administration and Paref-Northfield.

The MOA gave the exclusive school for boys the authority to use the 3.1-hectare city property over a 50-year period rent-free. The MOA also allows the school to mortgage the property or use it as collateral with private banks. In return, the school would give scholarships to 200 disadvantaged children. Inton said that the deal was anomalous as it was beneficial only to the school.

The new city council, many of whose members voted to approve the MOA, was compelled to open an investigation after residents of Greenmeadows Subdivision expressed strong opposition to the construction of the school in the vicinity, citing its adverse effect on the traffic flow in the area.

The deal placed the local government at a disadvantageous position as it allowed Paref-Northfield rent-free use of the lot for 50 years while obligating the city to pay 25 percent of the lot’s assessed value at the end of the period, according to Inton. Should the city government fail to pay the amount, the school would use the property for another 50 years still rent-free, the city councilor added. — Romel Bagares