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Chairman
Camilo Sabio of the Presidential Commission on Good
Government (PCGG) on Tuesday admitted they did not know
there was an agreement with the Mid-Pasig Land
Development Corp. and Optimus Property Holdings Corp. to
manage separate areas of the sequestered property
popularly known as the Metrowalk facility with the Mid-Pasig
Land Development Corp.
He
alleged that fellow commissioner Ricardo Abcede had
“kept them in the dark” about the development so that he
had now asked for an en banc meeting to confront Abcede
and ask him to explain before the entire body the terms
and conditions of the agreement.
At a
meeting with the press yesterday, Sabio announced the
PCGG’s decision to “hold in abeyance implementation of
the independent property management agreement” with Mid-Pasig
Land, which is headed by Ernesto Jalandoni as chairman
and president, and Optimus Property Holdings Corp.,
which is managed by its president, Precioso Perlas, and
identified with defeated senatorial candidate Luis
“Chavit” Singson.
Singson
had said some of his relatives are stockholders and are
actively behind the operation of Metrowalk.
“Before
the commission acts on the agreement, we will request
our official counsel, the Honorable Solicitor General,
for legal opinion thereon, in response to, among others,
the following questions—whether public bidding is needed
and whether the agreement violates the antigraft law,”
said Sabio’s statement.
The
subject of the agreement is the property that has been
the site of the Payanig sa Pasig during the ’90s and
later transformed into the posh Metrowalk facility,
housing different boutique shops and fancy restaurants,
at the corner of Meralco Avenue and Ortigas Extension in
Ugong, Pasig City covering an area of 17.9 hectares.
Abcede,
apparently trying to explain himself, said the draft
agreement is still subject to review by the Office of
the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice.
Abcede
is the commissioner-in charge of assets, properties and
management of all sequestered, turned over or
surrendered properties to the commission by the Marcoses
or their cronies. |
