SSS: Land row talk with NGCP fruitful

MANILA, Philippines - The Social Security System (SSS) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines met last week to discuss alternatives to the NGCP move to expropriate the state-run pension fund’s 6.5-hectare property in Pasay City.

In a statement sent to The STAR Friday, Social Security Commission (SSC) chairman Amado Valdez said he was grateful to NGCP officials, who agreed to look at other properties for the construction of their Pasay 230kV Substation Project in the area.

Among the alternative sites suggested were the Film Center, part of the SM investment properties adjacent to the SSS property and the proposed reclamation of the surrounding areas.

The SSS earlier filed a petition through the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) questioning the propriety of the complaint for expropriation by the NGCP against the SSS property.

The OGCC filed a petition to maintain the status quo and stop the execution of an order of the lower court directing the SSS to vacate the property.

According to OGCC head Rodulf Philip Jurado, SSS has a strong case against NGCP since the NGCP’s power of eminent domain is limited to private properties.

The disputed SSS property is located at the Financial Center Area along Diokno Avenue and is earmarked for the construction of the SSS Corporate Center of the South, adjacent to the office of the Government Services Insurance System building, which houses the Senate of the Philippines.

“To be able to take government properties already devoted for public use, it requires a specific grant by the national legislature and such authority was not given to NGCP,” Valdez said.