Several government agencies don’t see eye to eye on the status of a multimillion-peso joint-venture agreement (JVA) signed between the government-sequestered IBC 13 television station and R-II Builders, a real-estate development corporation.

The Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) have nullified the JVA “for being contrary to law.”  But the Presidential Communications Operations Office says the JVA is still under review by an interagency committee and, as such, cannot yet be considered nullified.

In the meantime, R-II Builders has reportedly been pre-selling condo units in the 3.64-hectare property of IBC 13, the subject of the controversial JVA.

On Tuesday the OGCC, through its chief, Raoul Creencia, urged IBC 13 to look into the pre-selling report as it reminded the TV station’s board of directors to remain guided by the government’s opinion that the JVA was null and void.

On Wednesday the IBC 13 board said it will verify the pre-selling report.

But Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office noted that the JVA was still under review by an interagency technical working group and as such, cannot yet be viewed as nullified.
“[We] need to verify the report that they [R-II Builders] are selling units,” said Coloma, whose office oversees IBC 13, in a text message to the BusinessMirror.

But Coloma added: “The joint-venture agreement is being reviewed by an interagency technical working group. The agreement has not been nullified. We have duly notified Congress during budget hearings on the status of the review.”

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Creencia said the JVA has already been scrapped “and we have a previous directive for it [IBC board] to recall the notice of award issued to R-II Builders.”

The company, owned by real-estate developer Reghis Romero, would be courting legal action if it is proved that it is pushing through with the construction of a “residential community” in the property covered by the voided contract, Creencia said.

Coloma said the JVA “was entered into during the previous administration to satisfy claims for long delayed payment of employee salaries and benefits.”

Coloma said that the review of the JVA was based on the advice of concerned government bodies that the new IBC 13 board had sought.

“We are heeding their [OGCC’s] advice [to investigate the pre-selling report] and so with that of the OSG. When the new board members appointed by the President assumed office in January 2011, one of their priority initiatives was to conduct a due diligence review of major decisions made by their predecessors,” he said.

Coloma said that the IBC 13 board had “formally sought the opinions from OSG, OGCC and other government stakeholders…to ensure public interest is protected and upheld.”

Last year lawmakers had sought the suspension of the JVA—believed to be a midnight deal of the previous administration that does not favor the government —and had urged Coloma to review it.

The JVA, dated March 24, 2010, was reportedly not subject to review by the concerned government agencies.

The concerned property measures 3.64 hectare and was valued at only P9,999 per square meter, despite its prime location.