CLARK FREEPORT — Reacting to reports that it had illegally paid P7.3 million in compensation fees to informal settlers within its lands reserved for airport expansion, the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said yesterday it has a standing policy to “off er zero financial assistance or any form of compensation to informal settlers.”
CIAC said reports on the alleged anomalous transaction cited by the Commission on Audit (COA) was “out-of-date and surprisingly done without research work,” but kept mum on whether the P7.3 million cited by COA had actually been distributed to some of the settlers, particularly to four who reportedly got a huge chunk of the cost.
The statement said COA has already “issued an unmodified opinion― a valued auditing phrase― pertaining to the issue on granting financial assistance to informal settlers and all other financial transactions of CIAC in 2018.”
“This means COA accepted the CIAC’s justification and actions taken to address all Audit Observation Memoranda (AOMs). Contrary to news reports, COA has not demanded nor sought further explanation on CIAC’s previous granting of financial assistance to informal settlers. COA maintains that CIAC’s actions (on informal settlers) were lawfully done,” it said.
CIAC confirmed, however, that COA had sought justification for the P7.3 million compensation fund, but, the statement said, “only before the submission of CIAC’s reply to COA dated May 8, 2019 justifying the payment of financial assistance along with the Agency Action Plan and Status of Implementation or AAPSI submitted last July 31, 2019.”
“The compensation issues involving informal settlers were already addressed in the AAPSI submitted to the COA in response to the latter’s audit observations. The AAPSI is a strictly required document in government auditing procedures― a summary and update of the agency’s actions on all audit observations,” CIAC noted.
CIAC said the move to clear land areas occupied by informal settlers was initiated in 2009 for Clark International Airport expansion plans within Industrial Estate 5. It said it adopted then a policy “guided with the valuation on financial assistance, patterned after an appraisal formula used by the Bases Conversion Development Authority―Subic-Clark- Tarlac Expressway (BCDA- SCTEx).”
“CIAC’s version of the formula was a computation on the value of trees, crops and structure plus P50,000.00 for each bonafide claimant. This explains why the amount of financial assistance varies among recipients,” it said.
It recalled that “since there is no existing law at the time that provides rules for the payment of financial assistance to informal settlers occupying lands within a Freeport zone, CIAC deemed it appropriate to use the antecedent valuation in 2009 (or the BCDA-SCTEx formula) as basis for determining the amount of financial assistance to be granted to informal settlers occupying land within the Clark Airport Expansion Project area.”
Tedious
CIAC recalled that “the computation of financial assistance involves a tedious process of inventory conducted by CIAC along with officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to determine the number and maturity of trees, crops and other produce or livestock.”
CIAC said that in 2017, it “established its own Board-approved policy on the determination of financial assistance to informal settlers occupying several areas identified for the Clark Airport Expansion Project― a flagship project under the Build, Build, Build Program of President Duterte.”
“During the last quarter of the same year, CIAC and BCDA started clearing the areas affected and conducted the aforementioned inventory, this time, with an addition of a COA representative present,” the statement said, without commenting on whether P7.3 million were distributed for compensation of the informal settlers.
CIAC recalled, however, that “in September 2018, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) intervened and declared ‘the grant of financial assistance should not be made in accordance with the area of the land occupied or the value of the structure or plants introduced thereto since the informal settlers are possessors in bad faith and thus, not entitled for any indemnity or compensation.’”
Since then, CIAC has ceased to implement its financial assistance policy, the statement said.
It reported that “in December 2018, the Clark Airport Expansion Project area has been cleared of informal settlers and is in effective control and possession of CIAC as the project is currently on-going.”
CIAC said it “submitted to COA a certification on June 3, 2019 citing the areas within the Clark Civil Aviation Complex (CCAC) where the construction of the New Passenger Terminal Building of the Clark International Airport (CRK) is currently taking place “have been cleared of informal settlers and that CIAC is in effective control and possession.”
CIAC made no mention of the COA observation that most of the P7.3 million fund were turned over mostly to only four beneficiaries without the backing of documents to establish their being residents or farmers in their occupied area.
