Plans for development of Grande Is revealed - and stopped!
Aug 10, 2019 17:08:17 GMT 8
Karl Welteke and chadhill like this
Post by EXO on Aug 10, 2019 17:08:17 GMT 8
ARTICLE NO 1
Senate probe into Chinese plan to develop Luzon islands sought
Philstar 9 August, 2019
Patricia Lourdes Viray
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged the Senate to look into the reported plan of Chinese investors to develop three Philippine islands.
The senator filed Senate Resolution 74 calling for an investigation into the security implications of the development by foreigners of Fuga, Grande and Chiquita Islands, as well as a property previously called Island Cove Resort.
The senator noted that the islands play strategic roles in maintaining Philippine maritime strategic security.
“Amid China’s aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea, it is baffling that the Duterte government allowed this to happen. These are no ordinary islands. These parcels of land are strategic maritime fronts that play a significant role in our military history, which only proves how invaluable they are to our national security,” Hontiveros said.
Fuga Island, which controls access to Luzon Strait, Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, has a private airfield on an adjacent island.
The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority had signed a memorandum of understanding with Fong Zhi Enterprise to develop a $2-billion “Smart City” on Fuga Island.
Grande and Chiquita Islands were previously used by both Spain and the United States as military outposts. These islands in Subic Bay are about 260 kilometers from Panatag or Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority had signed a deal with GFTG Property Holdings and the Sanya CEDF Sino-Philippine Investment Corp. for the development of Grande and Chiquita Islands.
Hontiveros also noted that Island Cove in Kawit, Cavite lies 3.5 kilometers from Danilo Atienza Air Base, which is the headquarters of the Philippine Air Force’s 15th Strike Wing.
The property is also near Naval Base Heracleo Alano, which houses the Naval Sea System Command that operates military shipyards.
Island Cove Resort, which was bought by a still-unknown investor, has been converted into a Philippine offshore gaming operator complex with housing facilities for some 20,000 foreign workers.
Both the Department of National Defense and the Philippine Navy had expressed concerns over this reported plan of Chinese investors to develop the islands.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government was not consulted when the islands were offered to the Chinese for development.
“All we can do now is to monitor what else they are doing that may impact on our security,” Lorenzana said earlier this week.
(Comment: So who was it who signed the deal with SBMA and then flogged the company off to the Chinese Developer? Lets hope that a similar thing doesn't happen with Corregidor - EXO)
Article No 2.
SUBIC NEWS LINK
SBMA: Chinese project for Subic islands on hold
The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has already placed on hold a proposal by a Chinese-owned company to develop and operate two strategically located islands at the mouth of Subic Bay.
Reacting to reports that Chinese investors are targeting strategic islands in the country, including Grande and Chiquita Islands on Subic Bay, SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said on Monday that a project covering the islands had been on standstill since May due to unresolved issues.
“It’s true that a group of Chinese investors wanted to take effective control of the islands to further develop them as tourism destinations, but we saw some problems about the proposed activities,” Eisma said.
She said that Sanya CEDF Sino-Philippine Investment Corp., which recently gained majority shares in the company holding lease and development rights over the two islands, had proposed to put up 80 ultra-high end housing units perched on water along the coastline of Grande Island up to Chiquita Island.
“This cannot be allowed because the Constitution limits the use and enjoyment of archipelagic waters exclusively to Filipino citizens,” Eisma pointed out.
“Moreover, Executive Order No. 65, or the 11th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List, prohibited the presence of any foreign equity in the utilization of marine resources in archipelagic waters,” she added.
Eisma also said that there had been previous changes in the corporate control or ownership of the GFTG Property Holdings Corp., which holds the current lease over Grande and Chiquita, which were made without the consent of the SBMA.
“These violated the Lease and Development Agreements that GFTG had signed with SBMA,” she said. Eisma said that because of these issues, the SBMA Board had passed a resolution on May 19, 2019 that withdrew consent to the change in control and ownership of GFTG.
The Board also noted the need for “further coordination between the SBMA and the Department of Finance with respect to this change in the control/ownership of GFTG, including the payment of appropriate taxes for the transfer of shares of GFTG.”
“The net effect is that the company’s proposal for Grande and Chiquita did not progress, and the project is currently non-operational,” Eisma said.
Information from the SBMA Business and Investment Group indicated that the Grande and Chiquita islands had been leased to various investor groups since 2002. The development plan for the islands included the establishment of hotel accommodations, restaurant, and recreational facilities, as well as the operation of boat service to and from Grande Island.
GFTG had initially committed an investment of P180 million to construct a 3-storey five-star hotel, build a marina parking area, and upgrade recreational facilities on Grande.
In April this year, GFTG brought in Sanya after supposedly signing a deal for partnership at the sidelines of President Duterte’s visit to Beijing for the Belt and Road Initiative Forum.
However, the agreement gave effective control of the project to Sanya, which gained 80% of the shares. Hua Huang Yang, a Chinese investor who joined GFTG as partner in 2012, retained 20% from his previous share of 30%.
The thrust of the new majority shareholders “apparently changed the complexity of the Grande development project,” Eisma noted. As of now, the SBMA is looking for some suitable company that could take over the development of the two islands to help bolster Subic’s tourism program, Eisma added. (HEE/MPD-SBMA)
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“Well, I hope these people don’t have their eyes on Corregidor.” - Exo