The Bacolod councilors who are against negotiation between the city and the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp., declined the invitation of the executive-legislative panel for them to join the discussion on the "upward adjustment" of BREDCO rentals to the city today.

Secretary to the Mayor Roger Balo yesterday said that Councilors Lyndon Caña, Greg Gasataya, Homer Bais, Dindo Ramos and Jude Thaddeus Sayson informed him that they cannot participate in the discussion with the same party because their stand is to terminate the city's contractual relationship with BREDCO.

However, they said they are willing to brief the executive-legislative panel on their position as stated in the Minority Report submitted on Jan. 4, 2006.

Balo said the panel will continue with its meeting today with BREDCO, without the minority who had been invited in order to share inputs that could help in the deliberation on the upward adjustment.

He said the panel is finalizing its proposal on the "upward adjustment" and on Monday, BREDCO might present its counterproposal. He said he is very optimistic that the negotiation will be finished within the 60-day period which ends on the first week of March.

He said BREDCO and Top Harbor International Inc. have already submitted the financial statements required by the city.

Balo said the panel is now working on the correct formula for the "upward adjustment" and will make use of the data they have as basis for BREDCO's renewal of its business permit. He said they have come up with a preliminary amount for the upward adjustment and are considering two approaches, the angle from the project management approach, and applying the principle of the net present value.

This means that we first evaluate or determine the value of the P800,000 annual lease rental in 1995 at its present value, he said. The rationale is that before, the P800,000 could buy more things than what it could buy today, he said.

"The second approach is that we presume that the P800,000 was reached by the city in the past, taking into account the length of the port in lineal meters," he added.

Balo said the length of the port in 1995 was only 800 lineal meters and in 2005 it had expanded to 2,000 lineal meters.*

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