Pasay City won’t recall award of reclamation project to SM

MANILA, Philippines - The Pasay City government said the opposition filed by property giant Ayala Land Inc. as well as S&P Construction Technology used by the 14-member City Council in withdrawing its support for the 300-hectare Manila Bay reclamation project of SM Land Inc. are unfounded and baseless.

In an 18-page letter addressed to the Pasay City Sangguniang Panglungsod, the Public Private Partnership Selection Committee (PPP-SC) of Pasay City reiterated that the decision to tap SM Land as a joint venture partner for the reclamation project was legal and above board.

The Pasay City PPP-SC said it used the 2008 Joint Venture Guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in picking its partner for the massive reclamation project along Manila Bay.

The committee pointed out that the project is not covered by Republic Act 6957 or the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Law as stated both by Ayala Land as well as S&P Construction.

 â€œThe prescribed procedure under Section 302 of the Local Government Code in the conduct of local BOT is inapplicable,” it argued.

For one, Ayala Land cited the new joint venture guidelines of NEDA that took effect this year in seeking a 60-day extension of the Nov. 4 deadline for the submission of counter proposals for the SM Land project.

“The consideration of this request is a matter for the PPP-SC to decide, but given the lateness of the hour when the request was made, it is our firm position that the terms and guidelines should not be changed in mid-stream,” the committee stated in the letter.

The committee is wondering why it took Ayala Land 23 days to submit a request for the extension of deadline since the invitation for counter proposals was published last Oct. 1.

“Changing the rules at this point in time will manifest partiality in favor of Ayala Land whose motive in making such a request submitted 23 days after the publication of Notice to Invitation is put to doubt,” it added.

According to the committee, the local government adhered Executive Order 15 series of 2013 as well as Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Legal Opinion 14 series of 2012 recognizing the discretion of the local government unit to implement joint venture project to its own determination of the appropriate rules.

“Under the proposed PPP Code for Local Governments, joint venture contracts are separate from the modes and variants under the BOT Law and not necessarily governed by the cited Law. As such, LGUs are not bound by the BOT Law and could enact their own code or adopt specific rules on a per project basis in the implementation of joint venture contracts and projects,” the committee said.

While NEDA has recently issued a 2013 version of the 2008 NEDA JV Guidelines, the PPP-SC said it does not follow that the 2008 version could no longer be used.

The PPP-SC reiterated that it conducted the selection and award of the reclamation project with full transparency and adherence with the applicable rules and it did not commit any concealment of relevant information to mislead the Pasay City Council in the exercise of its authority to approve and ratify the JV Agreement.

Last Dec. 4, the 14-member council issued Sanggunian Resolution 3059 Series of 2013 recalling all resolutions pertaining to the Manila Bay reclamation project due to the complaints raised by Ayala Land as well as S&P Construction.