The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Saturday said the construction company that built the nonprofit conservation initiative Masungi Georeserve is billing the government over a billion pesos “supposedly for its failure to deliver lands in the government’s own territory.”
In a press release, the DENR said the latest statement of account sent by Blue Star Construction and Development Corporation (BSCDC) dated April 11 “cited expenses incurred from the ‘unrealized delivery’ by the agency of a 10-hectare parcel of land allocated for the National Bilibid Prisons.”
But the DENR said the allocation is covered by Presidential Proclamation 1158 signed in September 2006.
“The billing cited legal, security, and miscellaneous expenses, damages incurred from the delay of the delivery of the lot, and even a monthly rental of P100,000 paid to a ‘professional squatter,’” according to DENR. The statement also indicated that the expenses were incurred starting in June 2018.
The DENR Investigation Committee, formed in 2019 to look into the aforementioned contracts, said Blue Star’s billings are without legal basis.
“The contracts entered into by BSCDC had legal infirmities ranging from unlawful excise of land for housing purposes in a National Park to award of contracts without bidding,” the Investigation Committee said.
Citing the disclosures of Blue Star with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the DENR said its key officers and stockholders include Ben Dumaliang, Ann Adeline Dumaliang, and Billy Crystal Dumaliang.
“The most recent of the series of questionable contracts involving Dumaliang with the DENR is the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the late Environment Secretary Gina Lopez with Masungi Georeserve Foundation (MGF) on April 25, 2017 for the protection of the nature reserve and wildlife sanctuary,” the DENR said.
“The area covers 2,700 hectares in the city of Antipolo and the towns of Baras, Tanay, Rodriguez, and San Mateo, all in Rizal. The Memorandum of Agreement gave the Masungi Georeserve Foundation (MGF) a ‘perpetual land trust’ over the area which is now a resort referred to as Masungi Georeserve,” the department added.
Moreover, the DENR said the MOA was deemed void ab initio (from the start) by the Department of Justice.
Masungi Georeserve has since said that the MOA remains valid as only courts can declare an agreement void ab initio.
“Until a final decision is made by the court, the MOA remains valid and binding upon parties and the DENR must uphold its obligations under it, which is to enforce environmental laws and assist MGF in its UNESCO Geopark Application and necessary permits,” Masungi Georeserve said in a press release.