Ortigas & Co. withdraws support for controversial P1-B Paref deal

Subdivision developer Ortigas & Company has withdrawn support for the controversial P1 billion Paref-Northfield school land deal in Greenmeadows.

Quezon City Councilor Antonio Inton Jr. said the decision of the developer, which donated the 3.1 hectare property to the Quezon City government, is a big blow to the Opus Dei-run boy’s school.

Fernando Ortigas, a general partner of the firm, in a letter to school administrators dated Oct. 31, asked school administrators to "refrain and desist from making further representations that we have waived restrictions on the deed of donation as you had represented in the past."

Inton had led calls for an investigation of a memorandum of agreement then Mayor Ismael Mathay Jr. forged with the school last March granting Paref-Northfield rent-free use of the property over a 50-year period.

The school intends to build a grade school and high school on the property — a project that, according to Councilor Inton, violates zoning laws classifying the area as residential. The property is located in Greenmeadows Phase III.

Under the agreement, the city would pay the school an amount equivalent to 25 percent of the value of all the improvements built on it should Paref-Northfield decide not to renew the contract at the end of its 50-year life.

The property would then be passed on to the ownership of the city government. Inton said the refund clause is very disadvantageous to the city government, considering that it allowed the school free use of the property for 50 years.

Inton said the deed donating the property to the city government also prohibits a large-scale project such as the one Paref-Northfield plans to undertake. A presidential decree requires that subdivision development projects reserve open spaces for parks. Such open spaces are usually donated to the local government.

School officials earlier said that the developer had waived restrictions imposed on the donated property. But the firm’s general partner said Ortigas & Co. earlier agreed to the project under conditions that the partnership now deems to have remained unmet.

He said the firm gave its consent to the project provided that it violates no law and that it obtains the support of neighboring communities. The firm also provided that the project should be for the "general good" and that it should not aggravate the traffic situation in the area.

Moreover, the firm said it should not be held responsible for any suit arising out of its decision to waive restrictions imposed on the donated property.

Ortigas noted the legal questions raised over the project and the growing opposition it has encountered from neighboring communities. In a similar letter he sent to Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., he said that the school has not "sufficiently" complied with the conditions the firm had laid down.

"…We have requested Paref-Northfield to desist from making representations (that we had waived the restrictions) until they have resolved the issues we have raised," Ortigas said in a letter to the city mayor, also dated Oct. 31.

Meanwhile, supporters of Paref-Northfield refuted yesterday what they claimed were lies that are being peddled by COHA, a supposed coalition of Quezon City homeowners against Paref-Northfield.

Lawyer Victoriano Oracio, Paref-Northfield spokesman said: "Assuming for the sake of argument without admitting that said claim is correct, COHA should be asked if Greenmeadows I and II also secured the prior written consent of Greenmeadows III homeowners and lot owners before they constructed various facilities in their open spaces. It is a known fact that they built basketball gyms, learning centers, tennis courts and even swimming pools in their respective open areas."

He said that "it is a well settled principle of law that he who comes to court must come with clean hands. Moreover, it is appropriate to quote the saying ‘what is good for the goose is good for the gander.’ It is quite evident that COHA does not possess the legal and moral right to make such demand." He also cited reports that some professional basketball teams from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rent the basketball courts for their practice sessions.

"The school will not deprive them of open spaces, because they already have their own. In fact, with the school there, there will be facilities built such as a football field, basketball court, and walk paths that can be used by all residents, without exclusion," he added.

"Maybe the real reason they do not want the school is that half of its high school population will come from the poorer youth of Quezon City through scholarships. However, we would like to assure the residents that there will be transport services that will pick up the scholars from designated points to minimize the inconvenience to them."

Orocio made an appeal to the city council and those opposing the project to consider the benefits the Paref-Northfield will bring to Quezon City’s youth and poor: "Let us all show them that we have these priorities as a community in our city and under the dynamic and creative leadership of Mayor Feliciano Belmonte."