PCGG holds talks over Payanig sa Pasig land

 The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is holding talks with the Ortigas family to settle a legal dispute over the 17.9-hectare Payanig sa Pasig land estimated to be worth between P15 billion to P18 billion.

In a recent interview with The STAR, PCGG chairman Camilo Sabio said they are exploring a possible compromise with the Ortigas family to avoid a protracted legal battle over the ownership of the huge tract of land at the Ortigas business district, which is now the site of the Metrowalk commercial complex, two home depots, a golf driving range and a used car exchange center.

Sabio said a compromise would be more feasible than waiting several years for a final ruling by the courts on the Ortigas family’s claim over the property.

He said they are not “talking terms yet” and denied news reports that 65-35 sharing scheme was in the works.

The property came under the PCGG’s control when businessman Jose Yao Campos surrendered two realty firms – the Independent Realty Corp. (IRC) and Mid Pasig Land Development Corp. (MPLDC) – to the government, admitting that he held the two firms in the name of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

IRC owns the IRC building along EDSA in front of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. The building now serves as PCGG head office.

MPLDC, on the other hand, holds the title to the Payanig sa Pasig land.

The Ortigas family, under their Ortigas & Co. Limited Partnership, has questioned the MPLDC’s ownership of the property, claiming they were forced by Marcos to sell the property on unfavorable terms.

Former San Rafael, Bulacan congressman and now Mayor Ricardo Silverio also filed a claim on the property.

Last July, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed separate cases for intervention on the claims filed by the Ortigases and Silverio.

Sabio said they are concerned over the MPLDC’s forging of a property management agreement with the Optimus Property Holdings Corp.

Sabio said they sought the opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) if there is a need for prior public bidding on the property management deal, and if the contract violates the country’s anti-graft laws.

While waiting for the OSG opinion, Sabio said he has directed MPLDC, through its chairman and president Ernesto Jalandoni, to “hold in abeyance” the implementation of the contract it signed with OPHC.

According to copies of the agreement, the OPHC will pay MPLDC P6.5 million a month in the first year of the agreement for the 15-year lease of the property.

Starting the second year, the monthly lease will increase from P6.5 million to P9 million a month and will have a 10 percent increase every two years.

Based on the lease contract, the MPLDC would be paid P1.44 billion or P48 per square meter a month, but sources said the going rate for commercial properties in the area is at P500 per square meter a month. – Rainier Allan Ronda, Lux Felicidario