Mimosa bidding aboveboard, CDC asserts

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Officials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) met here the other day with their critics to assert that the awarding of the Mimosa leisure estate to a Korean-Filipino joint venture was aboveboard.

This, after Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin and Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales alleged lack of transparency in the bidding won by the Korean-Filipino NTM Jin Hung Corp., which offered a minimum bid of P1.65 billion.

During the meeting attended by the two mayors, CDC board member Benigno Ricafort said the bidding for the 210-hectare estate was witnessed by representatives of the Office of Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), Commission on Audit (COA), CDC board of directors, Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), among other groups.

CDC legal officer Joey Lucban said only NTM Jin Hung — out of the 10 companies that initially expressed interest to bid for Mimosa — was able to make it to the 2 p.m. deadline last May 22.

The other only remaining bidder, the American firm Avenue Asia, submitted its bid documents 15 minutes late, Lucban said.

Lazatin told CDC officials that Sen. Lito Lapid has already asked the Senate blue ribbon committee to look into alleged anomalies in the bidding amid reports that the CDC committee qualified only NTM Jin Hung in the final bidding last May 22.

Avenue Asia has petitioned the CDC bids and awards committee to declare a failure of bidding.

Lucban, however, said that apart from submitting its bid documents past the 2 p.m. deadline, Avenue Asia also submitted an unsealed envelope containing its bid documents, in violation of the terms of reference earlier issued to the bidders.

Entertaining an unsealed envelope, according to Lucban, could cast doubt on the integrity of the CDC committee.

He cited Section 36 of Republic Act 9184, which states that "if only one submits a bid and its bid is found to be responsive, (the) bidding is not a failure."

He said the same law repealed contrary issuances by COA.

Ricafort said the minimum bid of P1.65 billion was consulted with four "secured" bank creditors of the Mondragon Leisure and Resorts Corp. (MLRC), which used to manage and operate the Mimosa leisure estate.

The CDC ousted the MLRC from Mimosa in 1999 due to the company’s alleged failure to pay the CDC some P469 million in land rental arrears. MLRC reportedly also owes the four banks some $2 billion.

Ricafort identified the bank creditors as the United Coconut Planters Bank, Metrobank, Bank of Philippine Islands, and Land Bank of the Philippines.

He said the MLRC’s debts to these banks had to be considered since the loans were registered with the CDC.

He said the CDC was able to convince the four banks on a 50 percent "discount" on the P2 billion owed by MLRC, so that only P1 billion was considered for them in the P1.65-billion minimum bid.

The remaining P650 million would cover MLRC’s arrears with the CDC, as well as its obligations with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp.

Ricafort, however, said the MLRC also left additional loans estimated to reach P5 billion with other banks and suppliers which were not registered with the CDC and thus, were not considered in the P1.65-billion minimum bid.

By considering the interest of the four banks in the bidding, he said the CDC eliminated the possibility of legal actions from them.

Noel Mananquil, CDC executive vice president for finance, said NTM Jin Hung also committed to pay 80 percent of the P1.65 billion within 10 months, instead of three years prescribed in the terms of reference.

NTM Jin Hung, according to Mananquil, has already turned over P26 million to the CDC, representing the amount to be forfeited should it fail to comply with its commitments.

Dismissing allegations of lack of transparency, Ricafort said the bidding was published in two national newspapers, including The Philippine STAR, and was posted on the CDC website.

A special library was also set up to enable the bidders to access all documents since the MLRC had put up Mimosa to make them aware of all its liabilities.

Ricafort recalled that up to December last year, 10 companies obtained copies of the terms of reference for the Mimosa bidding.

He said the terms of reference were done in consultation with the OGCC and COA. However, only six were able to submit all eligibility documents on or before the Jan. 9 deadline.

"The evaluation of the documents disqualified two, while another did not make it because it was late in submission," he said.

During the submission of bid documents last May 15, one withdrew while another got disqualified after a member of the consortium backed out, leaving only NTM Jin Hung and Avenue Asia to compete in the final bidding.

Meanwhile, in a statement, NTM Jin Hung vowed to retain the services of Mimosa employees to help it run the premier tourism estate in this economic zone.

The new Mimosa operator also promised that the playing rights and shares of members of the Mimosa Golf and Country Club will be honored.

"We are pleased to have won the privatization program, which we underwent with honest intentions and strict compliance at every step of the way," said Evelyn Gutierrez, legal counsel of NTM Jin Hung.

"Having succeeded at that, we shall now start the rehabilitation process according to the terms of reference set by the CDC and with consideration for the interests of various legitimate stakeholders," she added.

Aside from retaining the employees’ services and playing rights, NTM Jin Hung will infuse P1.4 billion in fresh investments at Mimosa for the construction of the unfinished villas, clubhouse and a theme park, including the improvement of other existing facilities.