DISPOSAL AND SELLING OF MC-ADORE PALACE

City hall sets MC Adore sale

AS far as the Dagupan City Hall is concerned, there is no more road block to the controversial
sale of the former MC Adore Hotel and possibly the city’s property in Barangay Talibaew, Calasiao.
Mayor Benjamin Lim has signed Executive Order No. 119, Series of 2012 ordering the “Constitution
of the Dagupan City Committee on Awards for the Disposal of the MC Adore Property”
Lim named himself chairman of the committee with the following members: Councilor Alvin
Coquia, chairman of the SP committee on Land Utilization; Councilor Jesus Canto, chairman of the SP
appropriations committee; City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara; OIC Budget Officer Virgil Tabngco;
City Accountant Teresita Manaois; OIC General Service Officer Eduardo Magno; Ricardo Victoria,
chairman of the Christian Evangelical Ministries Federation; and Lelia Chua Sy, president of the
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Metro Dagupan Chapter.
The committee is tasked to establish the mechanics and procedure for the public auction of the
MC Adore property; cause the intention of the City to sell the MC Adore property to the highest bidder
to be published in a newspaper of general circulation; accept bids and conduct public bidding for the
properties; award to the highest bidder all pertinent documents such as but not limited to the original
Transfer Certificates of Titles; and perform such other functions as may be provided by law or
competent authority.
FLOOR PRICE
Based on the executive order, the Mayor’s Office received the Inspection and Appraisal Report
of the Technical Information Technology Services of the Commission on Audit, Regional Office No. 1,
San Fernando City, La Union recommending the disposal of the MC Adore property through public
action at a floor price of P106,283,000.
Prior to this, the Dagupan Appraisal Committee submitted its Appraisal Report/
Recommendation on the MC Adore Property to the Office of the City Auditor on September 7, 2012.
The basis for the sale of the property is Resolution No. 6809-2012 affirming and confirming the
authority given to the mayor to initiate, facilitate and complete the sale, in accordance with law of MC
Adore and a parcel of land situated in Barangay Talibaew, Calasiao and further ratifying all legal
procedures undertaken pursuant to SP Resolution No. 6738- 2012.
Resolution No 6738-2012 was approved by the SP in a controversial special session called by
Lim on April 20, 2012 when Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the SP, was in the United States on
an official visit.
When Fernandez was asked about the E.O., she said her office did not receive a copy of the
communication of the COA regional office setting the minimum bid price of P106.2 M.
She said she found it strange that the COA regional office would set a low bid price when the hotel’s
zonal value in 2007 was already P120 M.
Fernandez said she will seek a clarification from COA’s national office.
POSTPONEMENT
Meanwhile, Judge Emma Torio of Branch 42 Regional Trial Court in Dagupan City again reset
the hearing on the petition for a restraining order on the planned sale of MC Adore to January 18, 2013.
 The postponement was caused by the demand of the counsel for the respondents, Dagupan
Mayor Benjamin Lim and nine councilors, that the original copy of the opinion submitted by the DILG
legal Service be submitted to the court instead of a mere duplicate copy
(http://punch.dagupan.com/articles/news/2012/11/city-hall-sets-mc-adore-sale/)

City sets MC Adore sale on Dec. 17

THE Lim administration has finally set the bidding for the controversial sale of MC Adore on
December 17, 2012 for a minimum bid of P106,283,000.
The “Notice to Bid,” published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Manila Bulletin on November 28,
29 and 30, 2012 was signed by Mayor Benjamin S. Lim as chairman of the Committee on Awards. He
appointed himself as its chairman three weeks ago, replacing City Administrator Vlad Mata.
The notice did not include the sale of the Calasiao land initially intended for a housing project of
city hall employees in spite of its inclusion as among the properties to be disposed of by the city.
The invitation to bid titled “Call of Acceptance for the Disposal of the MC Adore Property in Dagupan
City invited bids on “an “As-Is-Where-Is” basis “of four (4) parcels of land including buildings named
as MC Adore International Palace owned by the City government of Dagupan located in Barangay IV,
Dagupan City.”
The deadline set for sealed bids in duplicate is “not later than 9:00 a.m. on December 17, 2012
and publicly opened on the same date.”
The Commission on Audit (COA) in Region 1 earlier changed the proposed P100 million
minimum bid price of the city government to P106,283,000.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez had written to COA’s regional office asking for a detailed
explanation how it arrived at a measly P106.2-M as minimum price but according to the vice mayor,
the COA has not replied to her letter.
Fernandez said earlier appraisal of the property already exceeded P150 million.
So far, no real estate developer or mall operator is known to have publicly expressed interest to acquire
the property.
The controversy over the hotel property started when Lim called for a special session of the city
council last April 20, 2012 while the vice mayor was away on an official overseas trip.
In that meeting, four members of the original majority, namely Councilors Jesus Canto, Karlos
Reyna, Alvin Coquia and Librada Manoais-Reyna joined the minority led by Councilor Brian Lim in
unanimously approving the resolution authorizing the mayor to negotiate the sale of the hotel property
and the Calasiao lot.
The special session was later deemed irregular by the Department of Interior and Local
Government prompting sanggunian secretary Ryan Ravanzo to file a petition for injunction to stop the
sale of the hotel property.
The case remains pending at the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Emma Torio in Dagupan
City. Next hearing has been set on January 18, 2013 after two failed hearings at which time the case
would already be rendered moot.
 City hall observers say there are indications that the fate of the MC Adore will follow the same
pattern that saw the leasing of the Magsaysay Park by the Metro State Development Corp. where the
mayor has business interests.
(http://punch.dagupan.com/articles/news/2012/12/city-sets-mc-adore-sale-on-dec-17/)

McAdore property now up for bidding

DAGUPAN CITY – Bidding is now on for the McAdore property.
The disposal committee headed by Mayor Benjamin S. Lim has started since November 29 to accept
bids for the four parcel of lands including the McAdore International Palace building located in
Barangay IV here all owned by the city government, with the floor price valued at P106,203,000.
Bids for the former hotel will be received by the committee secretariat steered by City Assessor’s
Office in-charge Alan Dale Zarate until the deadline on December 17 at 9 a.m. Public auction for the
property is set an hour after the bidding closes.
In a print advertisement floated to invite bidders for the property, Lim states that the city
government reserves its right to reject any or all bids and select the bid that would be advantageous to
the city the most.
The city government is now full steam ahead towards vending the property after it was granted
by the Sangguniang Panlungsod the green light to do such last April 20 via its enacting Resolution No.
6738 which has authorized the mayor to initiate the sale of the city’s possession. “…the proceeds
therefrom [the sale of the property will be] earmarked for priority development [programs of the city],”
the local chief executive assures per Executive Order No. 56 series of 2012.
In earlier reports, City Administrator Vlad Mata guaranteed that the money to be pooled from the
disposal of the derelict will be allocated for social services programs aimed at alleviating poverty
among Dagupeños. (CIO).
(https://northwatch.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/mcadore-property-now-up-for-bidding/)

DAGUPAN CITY – The buyer of the Mc Adore building scored its first victory at the 10th
Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) which ruled that the complainant failed to prove that public
funds were illegally disbursed or used for unlawful purposes.
The CA said the case should not be called as a “taxpayer suit” as the allegation of the
complainant as well as the documentary evidence included did not qualify as such.
It added that what was involved in this controversy was a contractual obligation between a
government entity exercising its propriety right to sell its assets and a private corporation which bought
the same.
Leo Angeles sued for annulment of sale, reconveyance and damages on October 22, 2014 after
former City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim sold the seven-storey Mc Adore International Palace and theatre
building including its equipment and machinery for P119 million to AmbALC Holdings and
Management Corporation, Inc.
 The Makati City based corporation won in a public bidding on January 7, 2013. Angeles
complained on July 7, 2014 at the Branch 42 of the Regional Trial Court here that the bidding process
of the properties was defective as notice of auction sale was not published and the payment was grossly
inadequate on the part of the government.
Mayor Belen Fernandez, not a party to the case, said the sale was grossly disadvantageous to the
government, saying the building cost from P250 to P300 million.
AmbALC argued that private respondent Angeles was not the real party in interest and did not
have a locus standi or legal standing thus his suit could not prosper.
On October 3 of the same year, Angeles countered that he could sue because the contract was a
public property. He argued in that he could do this as taxpayer and a concerned resident of this city.
The AmbALC, owned by former Ambassador Antonio Cabangon, challenged again the legal standing
of Angeles in the case.
RTC Judge Florentino R. Dumlao denied the petition of Amb ALC as “the action was of
paramount interest for the government.”
In January 5, 2015 the RTC also rejected the Motion for Reconsideration (MR) of the AmbALC,
which then filed for a certiorari at the Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Zenaida T. Galapate-Laguilles,
reversed the RTC’s decision, saying there was an abject failure for Angles to prove that public funds
were illegally disbursed or used for unlawful purposes.
“Neither is there an averment that the City Government of Dagupan, in entering into a
transaction with petitioner, has caused material injury to its coffers and the residents, including private
respondent,” the court said.
“There is no showing that the contract causes pernicious influence to society impeded the local
government in the dispensation of its services, or provokes public disorder. In fact, private respondent’s
complaint is sorely empty of any allegation that the contract partook of such transcendal importance or
encompassed issues of such nature which must be addressed with alacrity”.
The CA said it granted on the petition of Holdings, Inc. to annul and dismiss Civil Case No.
2014-0197-D.
Aside from Associate Justice Zenaida T. Galapate-Laguilles, Associate Justices Mariflor P.
Punzalas Castillo and Florito S. Macalino voted for the petition.
Rules of Court says that Angeles can file an MR on the December 11, 2015 decision of the CA
but if it rejected it again the petitioner can elevate his taxpayer’s suit to the Supreme Court for another
lengthy process.
(https://northwatch.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/amb-alc-holdings-scores-victory-on-mc-adore-
row/amp/)

I had a visitor last week in the person of newly elected Mayor Belen T. Fernandez of Dagupan
City, who wanted to give her side on the controversial sale of the McAdore Hotel which the city
government bought for P50 million but was sold for P119 million, thus earning a profit of P69 million
for the city (As I See It, 6/19/13).
 The mayor, a reluctant candidate in the May elections, and other Dagupeños oppose the sale
because the selling price, even with a P69 million profit for the city, is still undervalued. Even way
back in 2002, or 11 years ago when McAdore was bought by the city for P50 million, it was
documented in the deed of sale that the land alone was worth P24,000 per sq m, or P122,712,000 for
the 5,113 sq m of prime commercial land in the downtown area of Dagupan. And prices have gone up
considerably since 2002.
In the interest of fair play, we are airing the side of the new mayor and other Dagupeños
opposed to the sale.
Mayor Fernandez said the correct process was not followed in the sale of the seven-story hotel.
She said she will not oppose its sale, even to the same buyer, if the price is right and due process was
followed. She narrated the history of the hotel, originally the five-star McAdore International Palace
sitting in the heart of Dagupan.
The total floor area of the seven-story hotel is 11,000 sq m. It was foreclosed by the bank when
the owners could not repay the loan. It was sold by the Asset Privatization Trust to the Dagupan City
government at a special rate of P50 million on the presumption that it would be converted into the new
city hall by then Mayor Benjie Lim. But throughout Lim’s term as mayor, no plan materialized to
develop it into a city hall.
Instead, Lim asked the city council to grant him authority to negotiate the sale of the property
after a prospective buyer offered P70 million for it. However, the city council led by then
Vice Mayor Fernandez refused to grant him that authority, pointing out that the appraised value of the
property at that time was P180 million.
When Vice Mayor Fernandez went to the United States to receive an award for good governance
in April 2012, Lim saw an opportunity to bypass her.
Mayor Lim called a “special emergency session” of the city council—without written notice and
without the knowledge of the presiding officer, Vice Mayor Fernandez, even ordering some councilors
who were then in Manila attending a seminar back to Dagupan to “address an urgent matter.”
Nine of them eventually convened way past session hours. Less than 10 minutes after they
convened, the nine councilors (now called the “Judas 9” by Dagupeños) passed a resolution giving
Mayor Lim blanket authority to sell the McAdore Hotel.
Not long thereafter, the Department of Interior and Local Government heard about the “Judas 9”
session, and made an investigation. In its published opinion, the DILG found that the session was:
“irregular” on numerous aspects, and ruled that the enacted resolution granting Mayor Lim authority to
sell McAdore Hotel was illegal.
City Council Secretary Ryan Raganzo filed a petition for the issuance of a writ of injunction to
stop the sale of the hotel. Judge Emma Torio of Dagupan RTC issued a temporary restraining order
(TRO) “in the higher interest of substantial justice.”
Despite the TRO, Lim still continued to broker its sale, even creating a “disposal committee” to
“properly appraise” the value of the McAdore property to ensure its sale as soon as the TRO expired.
The chair of that committee: Mayor Benjie Lim.
Lim’s disposal committee pegged the minimum price for the McAdore Hotel at P100 million.
However, consider these facts:
 • The appraisal that was used to determine the minimum price was based on the property’s
“zonal value” established before 2007, and not the industry-accepted and generally used “current
market value.”
• Lim eventually sold the property to AMB ALC Holding and Management Corp. which won
the bidding with a price of P119 million, or only approximately P18,500 per sq m.
• Do not forget, however, that the hotel was sold to Dagupan City in 2002 for P50 million as a
special concession by the APT. The deed of sale noted that the total value of the land was actually
P122,712,000, or P24,000 per sq m.
• Even more curious is the fact that Lim used to own a 715-sq m property only 200 meters from
McAdore, and sold it to Land Bank in 2005 for P35,000 per sq m.
• Since 2005, it has been accepted by real estate professionals that the market value of properties
in the area has increased considerably, with some calculating that the property has doubled in value.
• The Dagupan RTC finally declared the “Judas 9 emergency resolution” null and void, thus
invalidating the sale of the McAdore Hotel.
• Lim’s camp is now claiming that Dagupan “wasted a golden opportunity” to earn a
P69-million profit. But basing it on market values eight years ago, Mayor Fernandez said the “P69-
million profit” was actually a P95-million loss.
The lady mayor said she still wants to convert the hotel into Dagupan’s new city hall as the very
old city hall beside it is now “dilapidated and falling apart.”
Where will she get the money to refurbish it? “I will be able to produce it,” she replied.
(http://opinion.inquirer.net/55617/the-other-side-of-hotel-sale-row/amp)

Annulment of MC Adore sale sought

ANOTHER court case hounds the controversial sale of the land and building of the MC Adore
International Palace owned by the Dagupan City government last January 7, 2013 to the Amb. ALC
Holdings and Management Corporation.
This time, a civil case was filed by Mr. Leo Angeles, a resident of Dagupan City seeking the
annulment and sale, reconveyance and damages.
Named as defendants are former Mayor Benjamin S. Lim, Councilors Jesus D. Canto and Alvin
T. Coquia, City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara, City Auditor Virgil Tangco, City Accountant Teresita
Manaois, Eduardo Magno, Ricardo Victoria, businesswoman Leila Chua-Sy, Mayor Belen T.
Fernandez, City government of Dagupan City and AMB ALC Holdings and Management Corporation.
Specifically, the complaint seeks the annulment of the Deed of Absolute Sale dated January 22,
2014, declaring the purchase price paid by Amb ALC to be grossly inadequate, ordering the
reconveyance of subject of properties to the City Government of Dagupan, ordering Mayor Belen
Fernandez to pay Angeles the amount of P100,000 as temperate damages.
The case has been raffled to the sala of Judge Florentino Dumlao Branch 42 of the Regional
Trial Court in Dagupan City.
Among the complaints alleged by Angeles include:
 1. “The city council of Dagupan did not conduct an inspection” of the hotel properties or “issue
a previous resolution abandoning the intended purpose of the properties due to their alleged condition
or declaring the same to be unserviceable.”
2. The P119, million paid by Amb. ALC amounted to a purchase of the property at P23,000.00
per sq. meter, “which is far less than the adjacent properties which were being sold at P35,000.00 per
square meter”.
3. “The city government proceeded with the auction on January 7, 2013, (the new auction date)
without republishing the notice of auction.”
4, “Notwithstanding the writ of injunction, Amb ALC made full payment and thereafter
executed a deed of absolute sale date January 28 with the city government.”
5. “That despite the invalidity of the sale of the properties and the grossly inadequate price paid
by Amb. ALC,” Mayor Fernandez has yet “to cause the annulment of the Deed of Sale and the return
of the properties to the city government.”
Canto, Coquia, Alacantara, Tangco, Manaois, Magno , Victoria and Chua Sy were impleaded as
members of the Committee on Awards that handled the disposal of the properties.
Meanwhile, Angeles filed a request for the annotation of Notice of Lis Pendens with the
Register of Deeds on the certificates of titles NO. 93237,93238, 93239, and 93240 titled under the
name of Amb. ALC HOLDINGS citing the case he filed. This effectively prevents the owner from
disposing the properties while the case is pending.
It will be recalled that Angeles filed a case against Mayor Lim before the Ombudsman last
March 2013 over the purchase of the 30-hectare farmland in San Jacinto
(http://punch.dagupan.com/articles/news/2014/08/annulment-of-mc-adore-sale-sought/)

McADORE SALE CONTROVERSY

DAGUPAN CITY-The lawyer of the buyer of the McAdore Hotel asked the court to give his
client a “level playing field” by allowing it to intervene and become a party on the declaratory relief
case on the annulment of Resolution No. 6738-2012 authorizing City Mayor Benjamin Lim to initiate
the sale of the said property.
The case was filed by Sangguniang Panglungsod Ryan Ravanzo. In their motion for
reconsideration and intervention, Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, head counsel of Amb. ALC Holdings and
Management Inc Incorporation, said the case directly affected the company since it is now the
registered owner of the McAdore properties and therefore “enjoys not only direct and unmistakable but
superior rights over the said property.”
It will be recalled that Amb. ALC Holdings and Management Inc., a Makati-based firm, bought
for P119 million the long abandoned McAdore Hotel property from the city government of Dagupan in
a public bidding on January 7, 2013.
Topacio, contended that the sale of the property had been fully consummated with the payment
of the bid price , including payment of P8.925 million in capital gains tax to the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR),P892,500 local transfer tax to the city treasurer and other legal fees for the transfer of
title certificate in the name of the buyer.
 In a press conference, the lawyer pointed out that the writ of preliminary injunction issued by
the Regional Trial Court (RTC) last January 9 should have been lifted since petitioner Ravanzo failed
to comply with the court’s order to file an injunctive bond of P50,000.
The court’s ruling was based on Ravanzo’s petition for declaratory relief, in which he
challenged the validity of a resolution of the city council approved by majority of its members in a
special session “authorizing (Lim) to initiate the sale of the McAdore International Palace and a piece
of land situated in Barangay (village) Talibaew, Calasiao, Pangasinan.”
Ravanzo claimed the resolution was “highly infirmed” as the special session was held without
proper notices and without the imprimatur of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.
Topacio who appeared in a Court hearing last June 21 on the buyer’s motion for intervention,
also noted that the court failed to appreciate the second resolution (Resolution No. 6809-2012 dated
October 1, 2012) approved by the city council in a regular session presided over by Fernandez which
“affirmed and confirmed” the authority given to Mayor Lim to “facilitate and complete the sale, in
accordance with law, of the city-owned McAdore International Palace.”
The measure which “cured” the earlier resolution, was signed by both Fernandez and Ravanzo and
presented as evidence in the motion for reconsideration filed by Dagupan City Legal Officer, Roy
Laforteza.
“The ruling of the case has cast a cloud over the title of Amb.ALC Holdings and Management
Inc., which should be indefeasible and not subject to collateral attack under the principles governing
registration of lands under the Torrens system,” cited Topacio in their motion.
He further contended that the motion to annul the title of the properties is ridiculous for lack of
jurisdiction of the Court and for being an indirect attack, puts its ownership in doubt.“ There is a need
to level the playing field by allowing our client to participate in the case proceedings,” said Topacio
who further asked the Court to reverse the ruling voiding Resolution No. 6738-2012 and to issue a new
ruling dismissing the petition seeking for its nullification.
Topacio, a former assistant secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG), expressed fears the running legal battle over the sale of the property is “sending wrong signals
to would-be investors in the city.
The lawyer also raised suspicions that the case has “acquired colors of political vested interests
to the detriment of modern-day developments.”
Benjamin Ramos, a senior executive of ALC Holdings Corp., bared that the plans for renovation
works for the acquired McAdore Hotel will transform the property into a magnificent, modern-day
facility that will bolster Dagupan’s and Pangasinan’s tourism and investment thrusts.
In the early ‘70s, upon its start of operations, the hotel was called the “Star of the North”
featuring sophisticated amenities like a revolving restaurant with a full panoramic view of the city and
a swimming pool on the roof deck.
(https://northwatch.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/mcadore-sale-controversy/)

Last week, Dagupeňos were treated to an “excessive dose” of news about the historic MC Adore sale,
which drew mixed reactions from various quarters.
Some comments were politically smart, while others were noticeably intended to fill the empty air with faulty
logic and divisive statements.
Let’s take a closer look at the events and “circumstances” leading to the sale. In 2002, the ‘idle and
derelict’ property was bought and paid for by the city in five (5) equal annual installments without interest
totaling P50 million during Mayor Benjamin Lim’s first term.
The purchase of the property drew opposition from Lim’s critics, notably Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez who
described the mayor’s project as a “white elephant” and a city’s financial burden. On October 3, 2011, Lim
wrote the vice mayor and Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) members asking them to give him an authority to sell
the MC Adore property, reasoning out that the budget will be used for sensible and pressing city projects.
On April 20, 2012, the SP majority adopted a resolution authorizing him to initiate the sale of the property
while VM Fernandez was out of the country.
Four months later, Ravanzo filed a special civil action vs. Lim and the nine aldermen, questioning the
validity of
the resolution. Despite the case filed by the city secretary and the strong opposition thrown by the SP minority
led by the presiding officer, the SP's majority bloc managed to affirm and confirm Lim’s authority to sell the
McAdore and a parcel of land in Talibaew, Calasiao by adopting in a regular session Resolution No. 6809-
2012 on October 1, 2012.
The nine councilmen who voted in favor of the resolution were Karlos Liberato E. Reyna IV, Ma.
Librada Fe M. Reyna, Jesus D. Canto, Marc Brian Lim, Redford Christian P. Erfe-Mejia, Luis M. Samson, Alvin
T. Coquia, Guillermo P. Vallejos and Chester Gonzales. On December 7, 2012, the case filed by Ravanzo and
his lawyer, Atty. Borromeo Bustamante was denied due to their failure to appear before the court. But days
later, Ravanzo filed a motion for reconsideration, praying to restrain Lim from selling the properties on
December 17, which Judge Torio granted on December 14, 2012.

VM’s version

The mayor's letter dated October 3, 2011 to VM Fernandez said, “It has come to my knowledge that the
vice mayor conducted her own research and study as to the actual value of the entirety of the MC Adore
property. Based on confirmed media reports, your good office has openly stated that the property’s lot and
building, at the very least, are valued at two hundred million pesos (PHP 200,000,000).” On April 24, 2012, VM
Fernandez, in a radio interview, questioned the validity of the resolution, lamenting that the nine councilors
(who have an obvious right to convene a special session) were just “misguided” or “misled.” In layman’s term,
the word misguided or misled when used to describe a professional will fairly mean that a person lacks the
ability to use his own freedom of choice.
In other words, Ate Belen questioned the wisdom of the nine aldermen, making it known to the public
that her decisions alone, when it comes to SP works, are ‘moral and legal,’ conveniently forgetting her
publicized stand and comments that the MC Adore property is a white elephant, bulok, wala kwentang
proyekto, or aksaya lang ng pera. After the hue and cry generated by the controversy, the truth finally came
out, Now, our time tells us that the so-called white elephant has turned into something valuable, which might
have prompted Ate Belen to sing another different tune. “Matibay ang building na yan kaya more or less aabot
talaga ng 300 million.” “Para kang nagbebenta ng Mercedez Benz na ang worth ay 3 Million pero binebenta mo
ng 50 thousand.” she added.
But my barber said, “Kung bulok yan, eh bakit ngayon sinasabi ng ating mahal na vice mayor na
aabutin daw ng 300 million?” I told him that perhaps Ate Belen was really after the city's welfare, aware that my
answers might not adequately address his anxieties.

My two cents worth

What’s beneficially true to us, especially to the poor, is the fact that the mayor and company did a fairly good
job in converting the MC Adore property described by their political opponents as fit for the garbage bin into a
huge and valuable cash – a whooping P69 million in profits earned by the city. It's all over, but the shouting by
some disgruntled partisans.
Done with utmost transparency, there is no legal impediment that may restrain the mayor and the disposal
committee from proceeding with the sale during the public auction last January 7.

Lastly, contrary to what was earlier reported, there was never an injunction to the sale being ordered by the
court, because the judge only granted Ravanzo an application to file for an injunctive bond of P50,000,000
which he failed to do.

Mayor Belen hits Mejia’s hypocrisy

DAGUPAN CITY – The mayor here assailed the hypocrisy of an opposition councilor who did
not question the anomalous bargain sale of the former Five-Star McAdore International Palace Hotel in
2012 that should be converted as a city hall.
Mayor Belen T. Fernandez said that when former Mayor Benjie S. Lim conspired to fire-sell the
P400 million worth seven-storey with a theater building Palace Hotel fo P119 million, her staunch
critic Councilor Red Erfe-Mejia did not question the graft ridden transaction.
“Noong ako ay nagpunta sa U.S ay binenta nila Mayor Benjie Lim nandiyan si Red at bakit siya
pumayag na mabenta ng palugi? Dapat tumayo si Councilor Red kailangan natin ng consultation bago
natin ibenta. Bakit hinde niya ginawa?” the mayor lambasted, in a consultation hearing, Mejia who
opposed the donation of the 1.2 hectares land as situs for the city hall.
At the last consultation of the Cluster 6 of the villages here, the mayor narrated that the P50
million procurement of the local government here in 2002 of the McAdore from the Asset Privatization
Trust, a government owned privatization program, became possible because of the intercession of then
former Vice Mayor Al Fernandez and Alfred Balingit to then former Philippines President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. Both of whom were friends of Arroyo.
“At that time ang McAdore ay mahigit ng P200 million ngunit dahil sa gusto natin na
magkaroon ng city government kaya ibinigay sa atin, tinulungan tayo na magkaroon tayo ng city hall,”
Fernandez stressed.
When Lim became mayor in 2002 he wanted to sell the Palace for P68 million with the local
government here still required to pay the 6 percent Capital Gain Tax and the 1.5 percent Documentary
Tax at the Bureau of Internal Revenue for the sale.
“Compute ko iyan sabi ko mayor hinde pa (ba) tayo nalugi diyan? Dahil iyong lupa na binigay sa atin
ng mura kailangan ibalik natin at gawin nating city hall,” Fernandez, who was the vice mayor then
told Lim.
She added to Lim that if he was persistent to sell it he should trade the 11,000 square meters
hotel at P400 million in the prevailing market value of the real properties located at the heart of this
city.
But Lim and those councilors that included Mejia and Lim’s son Brian, the present Vice Mayor
who vehemently opposes the relocation of the new city hall, succeeded in selling to the AMB ALC
Holding and Management Corporation which won the bidding for P119 million or approximately
P18,500 per sqm in January 28, 2013.
Critics slam that the sale as anomalous and disadvantageous to the local government because
then Mayor Lim sold in 2005 his nearby 715-sqm property to Land Bank for P35, 000 per sqm.
Aside from Lim and Mejia, the other council members that critics called part of the Judas 9 were then
Councilors Guillermo Vallejos, Chester Gonzales, Chito Samson, Jess Canto, Karlos Reyna, Dada
Manaois-Reyna and Alvin Coquia.
When Fernandez became mayor in 2013 Sanguniang Panlungsod Secretary Ryan Raganzo filed
a petition for the issuance of a Writ of Injunction against buyer AMB ALC Holding and Management
Corporation to stop the sale of McAdore.
Regional Trial Court Judge Emma Torio of this city issued a temporary restraining order (TRO)
with an argument “in the higher interest of substantial justice.”
Judge Torio finally declared the resolution of the nine councilors as null and void.
The putative buyer corporation headed by former Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua was estopped
by the court to operate the five -star hotel as the case is presently litigated at the Court of Appeals.
(http://wwwmortzcortigoza.blogspot.com/2017/07/mayor-belen-hits-mejias-hypocrisy.html?m=1).

THE MCADORE HOTEL is an abandoned building in Dagupan City. When it was built years
ago, it was the pride of Dagupan, earning the monikers “International Palace” and “Star of the North.”
The owners had such grand plans for it.
Alas, the owners fell on hard times; the bank foreclosed the property and sold it at a public
auction. The city government bought the building for P50 million, planning to renovate it for a new city
hall. But the city government scrapped the plan upon learning it could not afford the huge cost of the
renovation.
Several years ago, the city government decided to sell the building at another public auction,
with the approval of the city council. The Cabangon family bought it at much more than the winning
bid price of P119 million. The contract required the winning bidder to shoulder other expenses related
to the sale. The buyers paid a total of P8,925,000 to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for capital gains
and documentary stamp taxes. They also paid a local transfer tax of P892,500 to Dagupan City and
P554,135 as registration fee of the property’s titles.
Dagupeños are happy because they will be getting a new landmark, a definite boost to tourism
for their city. Already, the family has opened a branch of City Savings Bank at the ground floor of the
building. More business activities are in the offing that will surely liven up the city’s economy, said
Pangasinan Gov. Amado T. Espino during the bank’s formal opening.
Furthermore, the opening of a renovated, refurbished McAdore Hotel will be a boost to tourism
in Dagupan, which is famous for its Bangus Festival launched by former Mayor Benjie Lim to promote
Dagupan as the home of the country’s most delicious milkfish. When the renovation is completed,
McAdore Hotel is expected to provide 130 more rooms for the thousands of foreign and local tourists
who flock to Dagupan for the Bangus Festival every year.
 Alas, the city risks losing all these benefits because of politics. On a mere technicality, the
regional trial court of Dagupan issued a decision declaring null and void the city council resolution
authorizing then Governor Lim to initiate the sale of the property. The decision was issued
by the court in connection with a petition filed by a city official questioning the validity of the
resolution that authorized the sale.
The petition was filed in July 2012, but it took the court almost a whole year to decide the case.
What took it so long? The court’s timing is questionable.
But then, it ceases to be puzzling when you consider that the ruling was handed down on May
20, 2013, exactly one week after the May 13 elections that ushered in a new city administration.
Smells like a case of political one-upmanship. A judge seeking to win pogi points with the new
administration to be in its good graces?
Politics threatens to scuttle one big opportunity for Dagupan to boost its tourism potential and
economy.
(http://www.pressreader.com/philippines/philippine-daily-inquirer/20130619/281698317312388)