Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia signed Tuesday an executive order creating a task force for the pre-takeover preparations and actual takeover of port and port operations of the Bacolod Port.

The creation of the task force is pursuant to City Ordinance No. 454, Series of 2007 or the “takeover ordinance” involving the seaport operations and the unfinished portion of the reclamation project at the reclamation area in Bacolod City , that was approved by the Mayor Friday.

In approving C.O. 454, Leonardia said the proposal for the takeover of the management and operation of the port was anchored, first on the various violations by the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. of the Comprehensive Revised Reclamation Agreement it had entered into with the city, which have not been corrected until today.

He pointed out that BREDCO had effectively transferred to another corporation, the Top Harbor International Inc., which is not the original grantee of the franchise, the exclusive rights granted to it by the city government.

These include the right to reclaim a portion of the foreshore of Bacolod City and the right to operate the seaport, based on the latest review of the Sangguniang Panlungsod from January to June 2005.

Leonardia said the SP has noted that BREDCO had encumbered its leasehold rights over port operations as collateral for huge loans with the Land Bank of the Philippines , and has not faithfully complied with the required payment of the annual rental fees for the lease of the seaport was.

He said BREDCO also collected toll fees on vehicles entering the seaport area, a right that was not granted to them by the government. The road lots in the reclaimed area are owned by the city, and not by BREDCO, he further said.

All these actions of BREDCO and the other violations noted were done without the knowledge and consent of the city and were considered by the SP as a serious breach of contract, he added.

Meanwhile, the executive order said there is an urgent need to create a task force that will study all the phases of the pre-takeover preparations and all the aspects of actual takeover of the port and port operation of the Bacolod Port.

The task force will make the proper recommendations on how to effectively take over and manage the port and port operations at the Bacolod Port , the order said. It also said that there is a need to enlist the assistance of government agencies and the private sectors.

The task force shall be chaired by City Legal Officer Allan Zamora and will be composed of Councilors Dindo Ramos and Roberto Rojas, Secretary to the Mayor Goldwyn Nifras, acting City Treasurer Annabelle Badajos and representatives from the Philippine Ports Authority and the private sector, as members.

The representatives from the PPA and the private sector shall be selected or designated by the task force, the order also said.*CGS

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