Cyber Bay asks SC to set date for pending appeal

Publicly-listed property developer Cyber Bay Corp. has asked the Supreme Court to set its pending appeal for hearing on an oral argument due to the "complicated nature of the case and so that all issues relating thereto may be clearly and carefully explained."

In its letter to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Cyber Bay confirmed that its foreign investors, Italian Thai Development Co. Ltd. and Centasia Group Ltd. "are one with the corporation in asking government to honor the PEA-Amari contract."

"Our foreign and local investors deem it necessary to file intervention cases to protect the project as well as their interest in the corporation," Cyber Bay said.

In July last year, the High Court permanently stopped the implementation of the 1995 amended joint venture agreement (AJVA) with the Public Estates Authority (PEA) which caused the suspension of the reclamation and development works along the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road in southern Metro Manila.

The High Court cited as grounds for declaring the AJVA null and void that the project was not awarded through a public bidding and involved the sale of submerged lands. Moreover, the SC said reclaimed land, being part of the public domain, cannot be owned by private corporations.

Aside from the company, the PEA and the Office of the Solicitor General have separately appealed and filed their own motions for reconsideration with the SC.

Under the AJVA, the government will take in a 30-percent share as part of the revenue sharing scheme once the project – conceived as a modern, integrated township in Southern Metro Manila – takes off toward full commercial operations.

Cyber Bay said the loss of the right to reclaim and develop about 750 hectares of land in the said area would cause the company and its implementing subsidiary Central Bay Development Corp. (formerly the foreign-controlled Amari Coastal Bay Development Corp.) to fold up, leading not only to the loss of huge investments but also heightens the negative perception of investors with regard to government policies.

The government – already reeling from a runaway budget deficit – would also be on the losing edge since it stands to repay about P9.4 billion in expenses incurred by the property consortium since the 1995 AJVA stipulates that in the event the company is prevented from completing the project, the PEA shall reimburse the expenses plus legal interest from the date of notice within one year.

Cyber Bay is a consortium made up of Filipino investors led by San Miguel vice chairman and president Ramon Ang and major foreign stockholders led by Ital-Thai and Amari Holdings Inc., which combine for around 21 percent of the company’s equity.