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BCDA joint venture deal with Malaysia’s MTD Capital above board, says Dizon
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Monday defended the terms of a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Malaysia’s MTD Capital Berhad to build the government complex at New Clark City.
The joint venture was approved by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), BCDA president and CEO Vivencio Dizon said in a press conference in Quezon City.
“The OGCC never gave an unfavorable opinion. The OGCC gave its comments and suggestions which BCDA addressed and clarified,” Dizon told reporters.
Reports have it that the OGCC gave an adverse legal opinion in January 2018 on the terms of the deal with MTD Capital and covering Phase 1A of the project.
The 40-hectare Phase 1A of the government complex broke ground on January 23, 2018, including the sports facilities currently being used for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
MTD Capital Berhad submitted an unsolicited proposal for the government complex in October 2017, covering ports, energy, infrastructure development, engineering, and construction.
MTD is the parent of AlloyMtd Philippines which operates the same businesses in the Philippines.
Philippine laws require that the BCDA secure a favorable opinion from the OGCC before a project can proceed.
Government Corporate Counsel Elpidio Vega noted that despite the concerns regarding its original opinion in January 2018, the OGCC gave the BCDA the green light to proceed with the project.
“The contract review which was issued way back in January (2018) was indeed not a negative opinion or contract review, but in fact it approved and gave the go-signal to BCDA,” he said.
The OGCC’s concerns were mainly about the modality of the project, but the BCDA has since explained that a joint venture agreement was the best option for the project.
“The only problem then was more on the modality of the procurement, and that was however explained very well and expertly well by the BCDA … ” he said.
In the same event, Dizon said the project was really meant as a joint venture, as indicated in the unsolicited proposal of MTD Berhad.
“In the original proposal, it was already a joint venture so that the mode of development did not come from BCDA. It came from the proposal of MTD,” he said.
“Joint venture was the best, more practical, most transparent mode for this project ... Naniwala kami, we believe together with our advisers that the joint venture mode was the best mode to do this given the financials, everything … the technical, and the legal considerations for this project,” Dizon added. —VDS, GMA News
