THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has rendered an opinion that public bidding is not required for the validity of the P1.2 billion lease agreement entered into by the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) with West Side City, Inc., formerly known as Resorts World Bayshore City Inc. (RWBCI) covering 5.43 hectares of the former’s property.
In a four-page legal opinion issued by Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty, the DOJ reiterated its previous legal opinions that there is no law requiring the conduct of public bidding for the lease of government property.
The DOJ issued its Legal Opinion No. 29 last July 6 in response to the request of NPF executive director Gertrudes Duran-Batocabe who sought the DOJ’s legal position on whether public bidding is an indispensable requirement for the validity of the lease agreement between the NPF and the RWBCI forged on August 20, 2014.
Batocabe told the DOJ that the NPF decided to lease a portion of NPF’s property with an area of 5.43 hectares to RWBCI for a consideration of an upfront advance rental of P1.2 billion in order to generate funds necessary for the development of Nayong Pilipino Cultural Park (NPCP).
According to Batocabe, the advance rental enabled the NPF to sustain its operations since it did not receive any allocation of government funds under the General Appropriations Act.