DoJ ordered to look into Nayong Pilipino lease contract

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
Malacañang on Wednesday said President Rodrigo R. Duterte has ordered the Department of Justice (DoJ) to review the contract lease entered into by Nayong Pilipino Foundation, Inc. (NPFI) with Landing Resorts Philippines Development Corp. (LRPDC).
“Sinabi po ni Presidente na pina-review niya po iyong kontratang iyan kay Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra ng DoJ,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in an interview with DZMM on Wednesday morning, Aug. 8. (The President said he asked Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra of the DoJ to review the contract.)
“Naniniwala siya na talagang grossly disadvantageous to government po itong kontratang ito at hindi talagang pupuwedeng hindi ma-sanction legally, dahil nga sa kawalan ng bidding,” Mr. Roque also said. (The President believes the contract was grossly disadvantageous to the government and should be sanctioned legally because there was no public bidding.)
On Tuesday, Mr. Durterte fired the entire board of the NPFI.
Sought for comment, Mr. Guevarra said in a text message to Palace reporters that he has already instructed the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to look into the contract.
“The DoJ exercises supervision over the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel. I have instructed the OGCC to review very carefully the previous legal opinion rendered by the agency to Nayong Pilipino Foundation, Inc., which apparently paved the way for the execution of the controversial lease contract with Landing Resorts Corporation,” he said.
The Justice Secretary also said that “this review of all antecedent facts and relevant documents will guide the government in determining the proper course of action with respect to the lease contract.”
For its part, the Public-Private Partnership Center issued a statement on Wednesday clarifying the background of the New Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City project.
“As a PPP project, the New Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City project undertook a market sounding activity (on) February 9, 2017, to gauge the investors’ appetite for the project,” the statement said. “However, (on) October 26, 2017, the former Nayong Pilipino Foundation chairperson Patricia Yvette M. Ocampo wrote a letter to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia informing him that the Board of Trustees of the NPF has approved the withdrawal of the NPF for assistance from the PPP Center for…(the) project.”
“Given that advice from the NPF Board, the PPP Center delisted the project. It is not officially part of the PPP pipeline since October 2017. To date, the NPF has not communicated to the PPP Center any updates since its withdrawal.”