Manokan sale - 2

A message from Dr. Tony Kho Jr. forwarded to us is amusing. Reacting to my column of April 28 on the proposed plan by the Bacolod City government to sell Manokan Country, he said, “I did not expect what was coming. It is the best argument, on their account, against the sale.”

Tony is now well established in Taiwan but keeps updated on events in Bacolod where he served one time as City Administrator, He was commenting on the citations I made of three former Bacolod City councilors against the sale of the old DBP building during the Sangguniang Panlungsod session of May 3, 1988.

The three councilors, Monico Puentevella, Rolando Villamor and Constancio Legaspi argued and voted against the sale for three basic reasons: (1) the building is priceless because they were left behind by their predecessors, (2) the money they needed for which the sale was being justified could be raised by better tax collection, and (3) there is no urgent necessity for the sale.

As we now know, Puentevella has become mayor and Villamor is the city administrator and they are the most vocal and active proponents of the Monokan sale. Legaspi had gone to the Great Beyond but his daughter, Em Ang, is now councilor and, true to the sentiment of her father, is reportedly opposed to the sale of the Manokan.

The arguments of Puentevella and Villamor against the sale of DPB are good albeit not solid or strong enough compared to reasons against the sale of the Manokan Country. Let's make the comparison.

Before I proceed, however let me just say that the documents on this DBP building sale was sent to me by Monico Puentevella with a handwritten note signed “Newks”. For some providential reasons while I was sorting out many of my collected documents for the archive, lo and behold, there was a set of documents which was about the old DBP building sale and the three councilors' opposition.

Some of these documents led me to further research and this I share with our readers in support of the arguments against the sale of the Manokan Country.

Let us use the argument of Puentevella, Villamor and Legaspi that for brevity we shall call, Los Trios.

Los Trios say that the Old DBP building should not be sold because it is “priceless”. The Manokan people say the Manokan is a tourism icon and has become the identifying mark of the City. Let's compare.

Indeed the Manokan, with all its faults has become linked with Bacolod's tourism image as street food in other cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, and even several American and European countries. On the other hand, the Old DBP Building was evaluated by the Bacolod City Treasurer's Office included this building as among the “unserviceable properties” of Bacolod. (March 7, 1991).

Los Trios claim that the Old DBP Building was priceless because it was left behind to them by their predecessors. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The land on which this building stood was once a privately owned lot with an old Spanish vintage house from the plaza. But after the war the house and lot was sold to the government-owned Rehabilitation Finance Corporation that constructed a building there. RFC became DBP that moved out later on to construct another big and better building, the present DPB near the Capitol

The abandoned building was occupied by several departments of the city. The DBP sold the lot (607 square meters) and building to the city under a conditional sale contract on June 5, 1986 for P1.7 million. The unconditional sale was made on December 5, 1989. Ask now retired Judge Franklin J. Demonteverde because he notarized that sale.

What this means is simple: the building is not priceless nor was it left behind by the predecessors of the Lot Trios. It was in such a deplorable state that it cost so cheap and was classified as “unserviceable” although several city offices occupied some of its spaces.

When the call for bidding for its sale was announced in September 1991, the city asked for a bid price of P10.5 million and sold it in 1992. Not bad profit of over 500 percent after just three years. The reason was not the “priceless building” but the location.

The second argument of the Los Trios was that the money that the city needed, P26 million for debt servicing could be raised by better tax collection. Indeed they were right but let's continue next week.*

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