MANILA — The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport), the umbrella organization of local exporters, is confident that the testimony of former President Fidel Ramos in the House of Representatives will once and for all put an end to issues raised against the group’s PHP1,000 annual land lease in a five-hectare prime lot in Pasay City.
Ortiz-Luis explained that under the Export Development Act (EDA), the property “serves as government’s counterpart through a ‘grant or lease’ to the ‘dominant export organization’ to be accredited by the Export Development Council.”
Under the law, it will be the dominant export organization “that shall manage the property and the facilities that are supposed to generate income to fund export promotion programs and projects.”
The Philexport chief said it supports the vision of former President Ramos to develop the Philippines into an exporting country.
Philexport said it welcomes the invitation for the former chief executive to testify in the next hearing of the Committee on Good Governance in the Lower House regarding the lease to the group of the government property.
Last year, Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone, who is also the chairman of the Committee on Banking and Financial Intermediaries, asked President Rodrigo Duterte to revoke the Executive Order signed by former President Ramos granting the renewal of Philexport’s lease contract to another 25 years.
Evardone cited a report of the Commission on Audit (COA) that said the leasing of the property — where the World Trade Center stands — to Philexport at the said rate for 50 years is “grossly disadvantageous to the government” as the transaction provides no income for the government.
“After all, he (former President Ramos) and the late Trade Secretary Rizalino Navarro are the ones being accused of approving the ‘grossly disadvantageous’ law and EO signed and confirmed by the Export Development Council (EDC),” Ortiz-Luis said.
Ortiz-Luis, on the other hand, clarified that only about 3.5 hectares were turned over to Philexport and the remaining property is being occupied by the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) attached agencies, the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) and the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM).
“Government was supposed to put in the money to set up the Philippine Trade Center referred to in the law that is to be managed by Philexport. But no money came, perhaps because government realized that it could not afford the construction cost of PHP500 million and perhaps some PHP50 million more in annual subsidy to keep the facility operating well,” Ortiz-Luis said.
The Philexport official said that in order to address the situation, it agreed to put a consortium called Manila Expositions Complex, Inc. (MECI) that built the World Trade Center.
“The WTC is already sustainable even without any subsidy from government. Philexport is also able to partly earn from this project. This, in turn, allows us to fund more export development and promotion projects and programs true to our mandate,” Ortiz-Luis said.
“Philexport has fulfilled all that is expected of it under the EDA and EO,” he added. (Kris Crismundo/PNA)
