Manila, Philippines –  Officials of the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) are under fire for leasing out a Rizal Park property to a popular fast food joint at an amount that is not even half of the prevailing rental rates in the premiere commercial area.

The Commission on Audit (CoA) reported that the government lost at least P45 million because the NPDC did not collect the correct rental fee from the fast food chain that was allowed to operate in a national park.

This observation was disclosed by CoA auditors when they recently submitted the 2009 annual audit report of the NPDC.

“The NPDC entered into a lease agreement with the operator of Jollibee Rizal Park (a) at rental rates without classification and grossly disadvantageous to the government that started at P70.96 per sq.m. at the commencement of the contract in March 1999, contrary to the prevailing rate at that tiem of P182.00 per sq.m., and in 2007 at the rate of P108.67 per sq.m. vis the prevailing rate of P352.00 per sq.m.,” the audit report stated.

State audit examiners chided the agency for allowing the lessee to construct structures and facilities without the required capital outlay. This, they said, is in violation of Presidential Decree 1177 or Budget Reform Decree of 1977.

The auditors said the fast food chain did not meet the “criteria adopted by the Department of Tourism for ‘tourism-oriented’ restaurants.”

Records of the deal between NPDC and the fast food joint showed that the lease contract originated from the agency’s 1999 plan to raise money by leasing through public bidding 1,889 square meters of Rizal Park land.