Payanig privatization hit

MANILA, Philippines - BLEMP Commercial of the Philippines, Inc. (BLEMP) denounced the recent announcement of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to privatize the 18.4-hectare “Payanig sa Pasig” property.

In a statement sent to The STAR, BLEMP lawyer Dennis Manalo said the PCGG has no right to auction the property because it has no valid title and is not in possession. The PCGG has not paid a single centavo in real property taxes for the property, he said.

According to Manalo, BLEMP holds the original titles to and is in possession of this property, which was formerly known as Payanig sa Pasig.

He narrated that it was in the early 70s that BLEMP acquired the property from the registered owner Mid-Pasig Land Development Corp. (Mid-Land) through duly executed deeds of absolute sale signed by all of its board of directors, including Jose Campos, and consummated by the simultaneous delivery of the original titles thereto. BLEMP owners went in hiding after they learned that former President Ferdinand Marcos wanted to get back the property from them. After the EDSA uprising in 1986, BLEMP tried to advise the PCGG about the true ownership of the property but they were ignored. Since then, BLEMP has paid closed to P1 billion in real estate taxes alone.

“The PCGG is dreaming when it made its baseless and hasty announcement that it will auction the said property at a floor price of P16.4 billion or a price per square meter of P89,461.10,” Manalo said. “This pie in the sky stems from the ludicrous insistence that Jose Campos ceded the said property by way of compromise to the PCGG. (He) cannot surrender to the government property that he no longer owned.”

Manalo challenged the PCGG to “go to court” and advised all interested investors to get in touch with him if they are interested in buying the property.