The Makati government under Mayor Nancy Binay will request the Singapore International Arbitration Center to defer ruling on the settlement agreement entered into by the previous city administration over the shelved Makati subway project.
City legal officer Ava Mari Ramel, in an interview with “Storycon” on One News yesterday, said the settlement agreement amounting to $160 million or P8.9 billion was “legally flawed” and “grossly disadvantageous.”
“We are requesting the arbitral tribunal to give the new administration of Makati time within which to study the files, to look into the legality and the authority utilized to enter into that settlement agreement,” Ramel said.
“This is a legally flawed agreement because there is no existing appropriation. There are no funds allocated for it. Should we be made to pay the amount, operations of the city government would be disrupted,” she added. Former mayor Abby Binay said over the weekend that the agreement is a “win for Makati.”
In April, Philippine InfraDev Holding Inc. filed an arbitration case against Makati and sought around $1.7 billion in claims over the delayed subway project.
The former mayor said the city has available funding to pay for the settlement.
But according to Ramel, the issue is about the provision in the settlement that the city government made appropriate budgetary allocations even though there was no actual appropriation.
“Regardless if there are other funds, there are steps that need to be taken,” the city legal officer said.
Abby Binay earlier told The STAR that the solution is merely to pass a supplementary budget approved by the city council.
Ramel said the current mayor wants all legal remedies explored over the issue.
“If there are people responsible for this, then we will see to it that they are made accountable,” Ramel said. “We are still in the process of collating documents and studying the status of the transactions.”
