Marañon to seek Pnoy’s intervention

BACOLOD CITY — Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said he will ask President Benigno Aquino III to intervene on the delayed ruling of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the sale and lease contract between the provincial government and Ayala Land Inc of the 7.7-hectare property in this city.

“It will be our last recourse,” the governor said, complaining that it has been almost seven months since the case was brought to COA Head Office in Manila, and no decision on the matter has been issued until now. He said he will ask for an appointment with Aquino next week and raise this matter with the president.

Marañon said he wrote COA last year to follow up the status of the case, but the commission did not respond; and then another letter last week appealing to expedite its decision but there has been no reply yet to date.

The governor said he received information that COA was supposed to meet en banc last Feb. 8 to decide on the matter, but the meeting did not tackle it.

The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bacolod Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Bacolod City Council have also called on COA to release its ruling on the contract, saying it is delaying development for Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

Ayala Land is proposing to develop the 7.7-hectare property into a Capitol Civic Center with P6 billion in investments.

Even COA provincial head Ernie Villa said he has not gotten any communication from the head office regarding the contract.

In July last year, the provincial government awarded to Ayala Land the sale and lease contracts of the former’s properties adjacent to the Capitol building. Both contracts amount to about P3.5 billion.

The legality of the contracts was however questioned in court by rival SM Prime Holdings Inc., the other bidder to the property.

The provincial government then sent the deed of conditional sale and the contract for lease to the COA Head Office for approval. SM Prime, for its part, asked the COA to defer the approval of the negotiated sale and lease until questions on the validity of the transaction is resolved.

SM Prime also secured a temporary restraining order from Court of Appeals in Cebu City but it was later lifted. —Danny B. Dangcalan