Tugade was reported yesterday to have written Pres. Aquino saying he was resigning effective June 30. He assumed the CDC top post early in 2014.
One source said that during the stockholders meeting, he expressed disappointment over feedback from the Government Commission on Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) that his colleagues within CDC gave him “mediocre” ratings in an online survey a few weeks ago.
“I don’t think he deserved such rating because he did quite well for the CDC by restoring the firm’s financial health,” said one of the sources, referring to CDC reports that the firm now has a financial standing of about P2 billion.
The same source said Tugade’s decision to resign was not at all related to an Ombudsman charge filed this week by a Korean investor against him and other top officials of the CDC.
“He seemed unfazed by it as he is a topnotch lawyer,” the source said.
Eung Il “Steve” Kim, a pioneer of the hot air balloon festival here in 1994 and president of the Holywood Park Development Corp., filed charges of grave coercion against Tugade and his legal officer Juvy Manwong and other CDC officials before the Ombudsman after CDC junked last January his lease contract over 3.2 hectares of land in this freeport.
In his complaint-affidavit, Kim said Tugade arbitrarily terminated his contract.
The CDC cancelled Kim’s contract and forcibly took over his leased property for allegedly repeatedly failing to settle his lease with the CDC for the development of a 3.2 hectares property labelled as a “retirement estate project” located near the Sapang Bato Gate of this freeport. But Kim denied CDC’s allegations and said he is a victim of “selective justice.” He said HPDC is far more developed than any other property in the area.
Kim feared CDC singled him out especially after he agreed to organize the Lubao Hot Air Balloon Festival which virtually competed with a similar festival which is being held in this freeport usually every February since he helped organized it in 1994.
On December 8, 2014, the CDC sent a “Notice of Termination and Take-Over of the Leased Property with Final Demand to Pay Arrears” to Kim.
The CDC said “since 2011 HPDC has been non-compliant” with its contractual obligations among them the non-payment of minimum guaranteed lease for the period covering December 2010 to January 31, 2011 in the amount of $27,620.72 and for the period covering February to April 2011 in the amount of $2,045.99; employment commitment of 90 workers during the first year of operations and 1,500 workers during construction; and an investment commitment of P237 million.
The CDC also said that in 2011 alone it issued three final demand letters to HPDC for its non-compliance. Then on August 17, 2012, the CDC issued a “Notice of Termination and Take-Over of the Leased Property.”
However, HPDC “requested for a re-consideration” and committed to pay its outstanding arrears and completion of construction development on or before December 31, 2013. The CDC said it approved the HPDC request on January 17, 2013 and “with a notarized undertaking of HPDC to comply with its development commitments and conformity to the termination and take-over of its leased property in case of default in any of its obligations.”
In his letter-reply on December 18, 2014, Kim said the issues raised by CDC “are not novel” and even if HPDC was late in complying with some of its obligations, they were “all settled.”
Kim also said HPDC has substantially complied with its construction commitments, is continuously hiring Filipino workers at that time numbering more than 150 already and since its lease agreement signed in 2009, HPDC has infused close to $8 million to the Philippine economy.
But the CDC said HPDC failed again to comply with its obligations which resulted in the final cancellation of its contract on January 7, 2015.
The final CDC letter enjoined HPDC to “cease and desist from your business operation; peacefully vacate= the leased premises and voluntarily surrender the same to the CDC…”and settlement of arrears amounting to $146,174.52 inclusive of interests and penalties as of January 7, 2014.
On January 12, 2015, the CDC Joint Inspection Team with a representative from the Commission on Audit (COA) conducted an inventory on all items found in the premises before forcibly taking over the property.
