Controversy hounds Mimosa award to Korean company

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Officials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) said the government stands to immediately earn at least P650 million in the full privatization of the sprawling Mimosa Leisure Estate here amid allegations of irregularities when it was awarded to a Korean company recently.

CDC president Antonio Ng said the winning bidder for Mimosa will pay the CDC P500 million in cash, and P150 million more for the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor).

"The amount represents government claims in the arrearages of the (estate’s) former operator, Mondragon Leisure and Resorts Corp. (MLRC), and this is part of the terms of reference in the bidding," Ng said.

Aside from the cash component, he said the CDC is expected to earn about $2.1 million from the annual lease of the more than 200-hectare tourism estate.

The CDC did not identify the Korean company, which reportedly had bested 11 other bidders, but Sen. Lito Lapid identified it as NTM Jin Hung.

In 1999, the CDC took over the management and operations of Mimosa after the MLRC, headed by former tourism secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez, failed to comply with its financial obligations to the state-run corporation. 

The estate boasts of a 36-hole championship golf course, Holiday Inn Hotel and villas, Montevista Hotel, several international and specialty restaurants, and a Pagcor-operated casino.

Lapid told local reporters that he will seek a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the awarding of Mimosa to the Korean firm, arguing that Filipinos should have be given priority and citing reports that there were alleged anomalies in the bidding conducted last May.

Lapid said he will invite Gonzalez, who developed Mimosa after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, to attend an inquiry to be conducted by the Senate blue ribbon committee to shed light on a case he has filed asserting his right to re-assume control of Mimosa. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the case.

"Gonzalez is a hero to some of us because he pioneered at Clark by developing Mimosa even as other investors shied away because Mt. Pinatubo was still restive then," Lapid said.

Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales also sought an inquiry into the bidding, which he alleged was not transparent.

He said the CDC contract with the Korean firm is not clear on the fate of Mimosa’s present workers.

Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin also warned that he would petition for a TRO, claiming that the deal with the Korean firm would be "disadvantageous to the government."

Of the 12 bidders, four made it to the pre-bidding stage, namely eventual winner NTM Jin Hung, Avenue Asia, Pelegrin, and Kumho. The latter two later backed out, leaving only NTM Jin Hung and Avenue Asia, an American company.

Avenue Asia, however, lost in the bidding last May 25 because it reportedly submitted the required documents 15 minutes after the 2 p.m. deadline set by the CDC awards board.

Amid the controversy, CDC public relations manager Angelo Lopez Jr. said turning over Mimosa to the private sector would enable the CDC "to fully concentrate on its mandate to oversee the development of Clark."

"We have to leave the management of a world-class tourist resort to the experts," he said. — Ding Cervantes