MANILA, Philippines — Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) has secured 46 building permits in the past two years from the One-Stop Action Center (OSAC) in Camp John Hay despite claims by the Sobrepena-led company that the OSAC had stop operation, according to the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).

BCDA vice-president Dean Santiago issued this statement as he debunked CJHDevCo’s claims that BCDA’s OSAC in John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) had already stopped operation.

According to Santiago, CJHDevCo was able to secure 46 building permits from the OSAC from 2009 up to the first quarter of 2011: 22 in 2009, 18 in 2010, and six in January-March 2011. The company also attended two OSAC orientations, proving that the action center never stopped operating and continued to serve the needs of locators on the John Hay properties. Santiago said that CJHDevCo was only using OSAC as an excuse to stop paying its lease rentals.

Other locators in the JHSEZ, including Ayala Land Inc., were also able to secure the required permits for their operations from the OSAC. According to OSAC records, of the 61 locators in the economic zone in 2009, 37 applied for and were granted permits to operate (PTOs), while 18 did not apply and four were not granted permits due to non-payment of fees.

The following year, when the JHSEZ had 65 locators, 18 were able to secure PTOs. Four of the 65 did not apply, while the remaining 43 did not get their PTOs for failure to make the proper payments. Last year, 60 locators were granted PTOs, six of which were still pending release until settlement of dues. Two locators did not apply for permits.

“CJHDevCo claims that there is no fully functioning OSAC. However, records show that they have attended the OSAC orientation twice, and the OSAC has actually granted permits to CJHDevCo. They have reasoned in the past that they haven't paid their arrears because of the absence of an operational OSAC. How can they explain the permits granted to them?,” Santiago said.

The OSAC has been serving the needs of locators since 2005. It has not stopped operating since.

In April 2011, however, CJHDevCo claimed that the OSAC had ceased operating, prompting the company to stop remitting its lease payments for the John Hay Properties. Despite concrete proof that the OSAC never stopped operating, Santiago said, CJHDevCo continued to refuse to pay its rental fees since 2009.

The lessee also used the Supreme Court’s nullification of the tax incentives for locators inside John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) as a reason for not fulfilling their financial obligations.

“This was already cured by Republic Acts 9399 and 9400, which BCDA actively lobbied in Congress during that time,” Santiago said.

RA 9399 effectively granted tax amnesty to CJHDevCo for all applicable tax and duties liabilities, including fines, penalties, interests and other additions. RA 9400, on the other hand, restored the tax incentives inside the Freeport Zones.

“This means CJHDevCo has not only been cleared of all their tax liabilities, they actually enjoyed continues tax incentives,” Santiago stressed. “So they cannot use this as an excuse for not paying their debt to government.”