Masungi Georeserve debunks DENR's claims of failure to construct housing units in sanctuary
The Masungi Georeserve Foundation has slammed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' claims that Blue Star did not perform its obligation under their contract.
In a press release, the foundation said that Blue Star "never failed to communicate the importance and urgency" for DENR to deliver its obligations under the Supplemental Joint Venture Agreement 2002 between the two.
"When DENR failed to act, Blue Star continued to take care of the project site and even restored the Masungi Georeserve ecosystem within it," It said.
It also debunked DENR's claims that Blue Star failed to construct 5,000 housing units on the site by providing various maps showing most of "Lot 10" or Masungi Georserve had been occupied and "subdivided" by private claimants.
According to Masungi, DENR failed to remove large-scale illegal occupants in buildable areas of the project site.
Claimants have also filed cases because of the DENR-initiated project.
On Friday, March 7, Norlito Eneran, DENR Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs, said in a press conference that DENR had canceled its 1996 joint venture agreement with Blue Star.
They also ordered the latter to vacate the place, adding that the management had 15 days to leave the area upon receiving the letter.
The DENR cited three reasons for the cancellation of the JVA: the lack of the required Presidential Proclamation declaring the subject matter of the contract for housing purposes; the absence of the document proving that the proposed construction went through a regular procurement or bidding process; and the failure to deliver the 5,000-unit Garden Cottages housing project within five years from signing on Nov. 15, 2002.
Per Eneran, when Blue Star and the foundation leave the place, dismantling the park would be "one option," but the "general idea" is for the DENR to take control of it and other agencies that have a right over it.
'Went after those protecting our forests'
In a statement sent to PhilSTAR L!fe, the Masungi Georeserve Foundation said the DENR has "chosen to go after those protecting our forests instead of those destroying them."
"While it continues to approve destructive quarries, private resorts, and industrial projects that irreparably harm our watersheds, it is using taxpayer money to target Masungi Georeserve... and its affiliated company Blue Star," it said.
"Instead of holding these plunderers accountable, the DENR is attacking a project that the late Secretary Gina Lopez once called 'the only good thing happening in the area,'" it said.
According to the foundation, the JVA between DENR and Blue Star was meant to create a sustainable housing project (with 70% green spaces and 30% development) for government employees and address ongoing rampant land speculation over the area.
The project was competitively bid out by the DENR and won by Blue Star.
In 2002, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a supplemental JVA, which contributed an additional 300 hectares to the project.
Under the law, a government project may be expanded or extended without additional bidding under certain conditions.
The foundation said that as outlined in their contract, disputes "should be resolved through good-faith dialogue between both parties."
The foundation said the DENR has not issued a 15-day notice to vacate. It noted that it has "anticipated this action" from the DENR Sec. Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.
Still, it expressed confidence in having legal remedies available to "stay the order, continue our work, and save Masungi."
