The mayor appealed to the Gotianun family, owner of the Filinvest Group which took over the management of the sprawling 201.64 hectares MLE from the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), to reconsider hiring some 455 displaced workers.
“Ako po ay nakikiusap sa pamunuan ng Filinvest na ikonsidera po ang pagtanggap muli sa mga empleyado ng Mimosa na nawalan ng trabaho. Karamihan po sa kanila ay taga-Mabalacat at Angeles. para hindi naman po maapektuhan ang kanilang pamilya (I am appealing to the management of Filinvest to consider rehiring former employees of Mimosa that lost their jobs. Most of them are from Mabalacat and Angeles so that their families will not be affected),” Morales said in a statement on Wednesday.
An officer of the Association of Clark Mimosa Employees (ACME) has admitted that they have already received their full benefits from CDC but only after an arduous court battle.
It was learned that the CDC recently compelled the 455 ACME members and some 100 non-members of the union in Mimosa to sign their respective employment termination papers. Their employment in the CDC-operated Mimosa ended on May 31.
Noel Tulabut, CDC Communications Department Manager, said the employees received their full separation pay of 110 percent of their monthly salaries. The computation was based on the basic salary multiplied by the number of years of service and other bonuses given to government employees, he added.
The consortium composed of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) and Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) was given a Notice of Award dated January 27, 2016 by the CDC for the lease, development, operation and management of the former MLE covering 201.64 hectares through a 50-year lease agreement contract.
It can be recalled that Filinvest paid P800 million as financial bid to CDC and the developer has committed to invest an additional P5 billion for the future development of Mimosa.
Filinvest has signed a 50-year lease contract, renewable for another 25 years, with the CDC after receiving a notice of award for the lease, development, operation and management of the Mimosa Leisure Estate.
The estate which is formerly managed by Mondragon of former DOT secretary Antonio Gonzales has two golf courses, a 303-room hotel, and more than 100 villas.
The state-run corporation, which took over the operation and management of Mimosa from the Mondragon Leisure and Resorts Corp. in 1998 during the time of former CDC president Rufo Colayco due to the latter’s failure to pay its rental obligation, has classified the workers of the leisure estate as special project for resort operation (SPRO) employees with no security of tenure or entitlement to bonuses being given by the national government to government and government owned and controlled corporation employees.
Meanwhile, Mimosa Casino will remain under the management and operation of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
