Costly Centennial Expo remains a burden — CoA 07/18/2010

DISPUTE ON P270M CLAIMS UNRESOLVED UNTIL NOW Costly Centennial Expo remains a burden — CoA 07/18/2010 The centennial of the nation’s independence came and went more than 12 years ago but the government until now is spending for the Philippine Centenial Expo ’98 Corp. (Expocorp), the company formed in 1996 by then President Fidel V. Ramos for the centennial celebration, Commission on Audit (CoA) documents showed. CoA records show an unreconciled balance of P269.607 million in accounts receivable Expocorp is claiming from the First Centennial Clark Corp. (FCCC), a joint venture between private firms and government agencies that undertook the development and operation of the Philippine Centennial International Exposition 1998 (Expo ’98) complex at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga, the construction of which was provided under Executive Order 128 of Ramos. The construction of Expo ’98 or Expo Filipino cost a total of P3.5 billion. Ramos directed three government financial institutions, the Social Security System (SSS), the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Land Bank of the Philippines to release a total of P1.4 billion in loans to the developer of the project. The project was criticized for the excessive amounts of money that went to its construction such as a Freedom Ring costing more than P1.2 billion; a parking lot worth P111 million; an entry zone costing P118 million; display villages worth P290 million; an artificial river built at a cost of P76 million, and bridges on the river that cost P32 million to build. A dispute between FCCC and Expocorp on the actual amount of the project had delayed the liquidation of the Expocorp. The phrase “amount actually paid by Expocorp solely for the for the construction of said properties” was not clearly defined resulting in different interpretations. Consequently, there is a variance of the receivable as per (Expocorp’s) records of P269,607,624 and that acknowledged by FCCC of P53,162,163, according to CoA.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100718hed1.html

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