Only courts may order sale of RPN-9, IBC-13

The Aquino administration has no right to sell sequestered television stations RPN-9 and IBC-13 — only the courts can order such sale. So said Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. who on Monday explained that sequestered assets and properties do not really belong to the government. "The courts have always had the duty to decide what to do with sequestered assets," Marcos said in an interview with reporters. Most of the shares and assets of RPN-9 and IBC-13 were under the name of businessman Roberto S. Benedicto, a close crony of the former strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Thus, the state networks were sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government more than 20 years ago as part of the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses. Marcos said the status of these sequestered assets have been "in limbo" for many years. If the courts finally determine that they are not ill-gotten wealth, Marcos said RPN-9 and IBC-13 should be returned to their respective owners. "We've always wanted to negotiate, it's the government that never wanted to negotiate with us," he said. No takers Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, for his part, was willing to support the administration's plan to sell the state networks. "Why don't you sell it as is and let the buyer buy the kind of equipment he wants to modernize the station," he told reporters in a separate interview Monday. Senator Joker Arroyo, however, said that the plan of to sell the two government stations is already an "old story." He said that many administrations have attempted to do it and none succeeded. "It has never been sold [because] the liabilities are more than the assets," he told reporters in a separate interview. Arroyo explained that the two stations are so debt-ridden that even if you sell off all its assets, it would not be enough to pay for the debts. "That's why there are no takers... even if you give it to anyone, nobody will get it," he said. Disadvantageous joint venture Senator Franklin Drilon added that IBC-13 had entered a "disadvantageous" joint venture agreement with a certain R-II Builders Inc./Primestate Ventures Inc. without the review of concerned state agencies. Under the deal, IBC-13 will transfer the ownership of 3.64 hectares of its 4.14-hectare property to R-II Builders/Primestate. The company will reportedly build residential condominium units on the land. He said the joint venture seeks to develop the IBC-13's properties into a Broadcast City Compound composed of a new six-storey corporate building, a two-storey commercial building, road network and parking spaces, and medium-rise residential buildings. But Drilon said the valuation of the 3.64 hectares was pegged at only P9,999.99 per square meter or P364 million, even if the land is in a "prime location." Also, he said the valuation was not submitted to the Commission on Audit's Technical Services Office for review. He added the deal failed to secure the mandatory review of the Privatization Council, pursuant to Section 3 of Executive Order 323. Also, he said IBC-13 will receive only P728 million in guaranteed revenue share, P150 million of which will be payable in cash in six equal tranches, P128 million to be paid in two equal tranches, and P450 million to be offset or used to compensate R-II Builders for the construction of the new Broadcast City. "This is grossly disadvantageous since only P278 million will in effect be received by the government," Drilon said. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV