SM Prime Holdings Inc. yesterday filed an amended petition before the Bacolod Regional Trial Court to seek the annulment of any negotiated sale and lease by the Negros Occidental provincial government of its 7.7-hectare prime property in Bacolod City to AyalaLand Inc., SMPHI lawyer Vincent Patrick Bayhon said.

In its 24-page amended petition filed before Bacolod RTC Branch 50, SMPHI asked that judgment be rendered declaring null and void any notice of award and any negotiated contract for sale and lease issued to AyalaLand Inc. by the provincial government, and for SMPHI to be declared the winning bidder of the July 7 bidding.

Added to the respondents Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and the members of the Committee on Awards and Disposal of Real Properties, in the SMPHI amended petition are the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental.

SMPHI is also set to ask the Court of Appeals to issue a temporary restraining order on the negotiated sale and lease to Ayala so as not to render its petition moot and academic, Bayhon said.

Marañon, through the committee on awards, gravely abused his discretion in the disposition of the province’s properties to ensure that SMPHI was deprived of the opportunity to develop its project,  the petition.

The governor undeniably favored Ayala, it added.

GUV REPLIES

But   Marañon yesterday maintained that the provincial government committee on awards acted aboveboard and within the bounds of the law in awarding the sale and lease of its property to AyalaLand.

He said the provincial government is leaving the concerns of SMPHI to the court to decide but in the meantime will proceed with the sale and lease of its property to Ayala.

The governor said he is submitting the contracts for lease and sale of the 7.7-hectare provincial government property to Ayala to the Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan today for its approval, and for authority to sign them.

The COA’s approval of the contract will also be sought, he added.

‘UNFAIR’

Bayhon, in the amended petition, said SMPHI is entitled to a writ of certiorari annulling any negotiated contract for sale and lease by the provincial government of it s 7.7 hectare property to Ayala Land.

The respondents acted unfairly, arbitrarily and with grave abuse of discretion in determining that there was a failure of bidding, and the governor has shown a pattern of unfairness towards SMPHI, the petition said.

The committee on awards further committed grave abuse of discretion when it negotiated with the losing bidder, Ayala, for the disposition of its properties, the petition said, calling the move “highly anomalous.”

“The committee cannot casually set aside a publicly held competitive bidding on the pretext of failure of bidding in order to proceed with negotiations with such unseemly haste,” it added.

When SMPHI won the July 7 public bidding, the committee did not immediately declare it a winner but took a day to concoct the reason for rejecting the bid, it said.

But when only Ayala participated in the negotiation, in one day the committee was able to supposedly decide that its offer was acceptable, the petition said, charging that “the proceedings were railroaded in favor of Ayala.”

CA MOVE

Bayhon said SMPHI is also filing a petition for certiorari before the Court of Appeals following the lower court's denial of it's bid for a temporary restraining order to stop the negotiated sale.

SMPHI will not be participating in the hearing on the preliminary injunction set at the Bacolod RTC tomorrow since it is elevating the matter to the CA, but will participate in the hearing of the main case at the lower court, Bayhon said.

He denied allegations that taking the matter to the court by SM was an act of coercion and a threat to get the provincial government to change its mind and to declare it the winning bidder.

Marañon had said that the July 7 bidding was declared a failure because SMPHI and AyalaLand bidded below the floor price for the property approved by the Commission on Audit, and that both firms were invited to the negotiated bidding held July 15.

SM lost by default for failing to show up at the negotiated bidding, he said.

SMPHI, on the other hand, insisted that it clearly submitted a superior bid over Ayala on July 7 and was surprised why the bidding was declared a failure.

NO RIFT

Marañon yesterday denied that there is a rift between him and Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez over the awarding of the sale and lease of the Capitol’s property to Ayala.

Benitez had earlier brought SMPHI officials to the Capitol to present their unsolicited bid for the purchase and lease of the property in question, and is perceived to have been lobbying for the firm.

Benitez yesterday said it is up to the court to decide who is right in the sale and lease of the property.*CPG

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