Ayala Land to present P6B proposal anew

CEBU, Philippines - Ayala Land Inc. will present yet again its technical proposal to develop at least 7.7 hectares of property owned by the Negros Occidental provincial government that the land company is set to purchase and lease.

The presentation is scheduled at 11am today at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall, Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said.

The proposal, which will be presented to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, mayors, non-government organizations and members of the business community, is expected to be more detailed compared to the first presentation during the bidding, Marañon said.

The Provincial Board has approved the contracts for the deed of conditional sale and lease to Ayala Land, but the signing of the contracts was put on hold because of the 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) obtained by SM Prime Holdings, the other bidder for the said property, from the Court of Appeals in Cebu.

Marañon, however, said that as of yesterday, the Provincial Capitol has not yet received an official copy of the TRO.

Marañon also hit back at some Manila-based newspaper columnists who accused him of “abuse of authority” for approving the sale and lease of the said property to Ayala in haste.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m only doing what is best for the interest of the province. I want it to be more transparent. It’s up to the court to decide (whether the process was legal),” he said.

The governor said the action of SM Prime in going to court to protest the award to Ayala Land will delay the consummation of the transactions.

In effect, it will delay our programs and it will also delay the delivery of social services, because the proceeds of the sale and lease will be spent for our programs to the poor, he lamented.

Marañon said he fears that because there seems to be an “overwhelming support” from the Negrenses for the project to be awarded to Ayala, the public may launch a boycott against SM City Bacolod mall if SM Prime continues to delay the project.

 SM Prime should stop delaying the project, “because the people have spoken (in favor of Ayala),” the governor said. - THE FREEMAN