John Hay takeover

It may be just a matter of time.

This is what our coffee shop habitu-friends are saying, their prognosis on the issue of whether or not the government will exercise its option of re-taking Camp John Hay from the beleaguered Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJHDevco).

But here is the twist: our gang of caffeine connoisseurs say a take over of Camp John Hay may exactly be what the Fil-Estate-led group may actually be hoping, actually, wishing for. That is exactly the game plan of the group: to provoke the government into taking the most drastic action possible.

The tell-tale signs are there, they say: since day one when the Sobrepena group raised ruckus over a government effort to collect P2.2 billion in rental arrears, CJHDevco dug in. They prepared for war. Quite different from how the group handled its other crises, such as the College Assurance Plan or CAP controversy. In that particular instance, the group tried to appease the parties they have aggrieved, bannered some remedial moves and publicized its capability to settle its billion-peso accountabilities.

Not true for the John Hay controversy. In this case, our friends say, the Fil-Estate group vehemently denied it owed the national and Baguio City governments anything. It went on the war path with explosive emotionally-charged words apparently meant to provoke the government into taking drastic steps, our friends further observed.

The apparent provocation of the national government may have been the last resort of CJHDevco, they surmise. This is because an earlier PR gambit fell flat on its face. Our friends inferred that the Fil-Estate group’s PR handlers tried to liken the CJHDevco situation to that of the Fraport-led consortium which lost the NAIA II deal and which brought its case to an international arbitration body.

There were no takers on the story line that CJHDevco had sued the government. In the first place, our coffee mugster friends say, people knew the suit was not a suit at all. It was a plea for that private arbitration body to tell the national government to sit down with the debtor and talk things out.

The story line was a miserable failure, and the more it is repeated, the more it becomes an embarrassment to the Poblador, Bautista and Reyes Law Offices which, our friends say, are decent and brilliant lawyers who would know the difference between a suit and an arbitration. The respected law firm, everyone knows, is counsel to Bob Sobrepeña.

The Congressman Mauricio Domogan gambit, our friends observed, may have also failed. The respected Baguio solon was quoted by the CJHDevco PR team as having called on the national government to sit down with the Fil-Estate group. They quoted the venerable law-maker as being against the government operating John Hay.

So, whether it is the we sued government or the Rep. Domogan gambit, the CJHDevco strategy is clear - at least to our frappucinno fan-friends. The goal was to make the national government, represented by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, sit down with them and listen to renewed pleas for concessions on the P2.2 billion debt.

If that fails, the final option would be to let the government take over John Hay. After that, all that the Sobrepena group has to do is cry foul, sue BCDA for grave coercion, demand compensation for damages, throw brick bats at government’s efforts to keep John Hay running, and litter with obstacles the entry path for a new investor/operator.

And it looks like things are going the Fil-Estate-CAP-CJHDevco way on this row. The way things are shaping up, BCDA appears to be under pressure to take over the facility. For one, Senators Alfredo Lim and Aquilino Pimentel, as well as Cavite Congressman Boying Remulla, said if the Sobrepena group does not settle, government will have no option but to take over.

The biggest pressure, however, remains to be the national government’s two major worries: the possible dissipation of John Hay assets and the P300 million in development funds representing Baguio City’s share in John Hay rentals. The losses appear to be huge if the national government fails to act decisively, regardless of the CJHDevco tantrums and objectives.

Some quarters, however, do not share the view of our coffee shop kibitzers that CJHDevco wants the government to take over after all. There are those who believe the Sobrepena group will oppose a take over come hell or high water. Already, the group is saber-rattling. Some of my friends who reside in Baguio say the forces of the private operator are armed to the teeth. Also, the multi-million newspaper advertisements of the CJHDevco PR group show they are willing to spend their last few pesos to ensure that government is not able to do what it must.

Well, at the end of the day, the people of Baguio just want their money so they can rehabilitate their water works and end the meningococcemia scare.

And the rest of us just want our Camp John Hay preserved for future generations of honeymooners, vacationing families and golfers. John Hay belongs to all of us. Not just to Bob Sobrepeña.

Delivering The Promise

From the start, the Manila North Tollways Corporation, proponents of the North Luzon Expressway reconstruction project, explained that the new tollway will not merely provide a swifter, more comfortable ride over its entire 82km stretch, but it can be expected to accelerate socio-economic development in the region it services. Yet the project always had its own following of pessimists who seemingly refused to consider the potentials and benefits an improved major infrastructure can bring.

As promised however, and only four months since the re-opening of the new North Luzon Expressway, social and economic development in the area has indeed started to manifest.

In April, Tiger Airways and Air Asia commenced regular international flights from the Diosdado Macapagal Airport in Clark to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur respectively.

What makes it even more interesting is the fact that both these international airlines also rely on the Manila-based market to fill their flights. Many of these passengers opt to take a shuttle service, in air-conditioned buses, from SM Megamall to the D. Macapagal airport in Clark, indicating how predictable and reliable travel along the North Luzon Expressway has become.

Recently too, Ayala Land announced plans to start a new resort complex development in Morong, Bataan, a project which many in local business circles say became even more viable and promising with the NLEX now in full operation and one which brings the expectations of increased local tourism as well.

It would be interesting to find out how resorts in Pampanga, Olongapo and Zambales performed this summer as compared to previous years.

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