Ex-Makati mayor defends P8.9-B settlement deal
Former Makati City Mayor Abby Binay denied on Thursday that the finances of Makati City will be affected because of the P8.96-billion settlement she signed with the city’s partner, Philippine InfraDev Holdings Inc., over the canceled Makati subway project.
“It is not true that the city will go bankrupt because of the settlement,” she said in a press briefing after her sister and successor, incumbent Mayor Nancy Binay, bared plans to withdraw from the “midnight deal” because of its effect on the city’s finances.
Abby signed the agreement on June 23, seven days before the expiry of her term, to settle the arbitration case that InfraDev filed with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
The company filed the arbitration case after the Supreme Court placed 10 “Embo” barangays in Makati City under the jurisdiction of Taguig. The ruling affected the alignment of the 11-kilometer Makati Subway project, leading to its cancellation.
The P8.96 billion “compromise” took into account Infradev’s actual investments—confirmed by international audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers—as a strategic way to shield Makati City from the firm’s $1.7-billion arbitration claim filed before SIAC, according to Abby.
Enough money
She added that she ended her term with Makati City Hall having “almost P30 billion in the bank.”
“This is cash. The city has assets worth over P243 billion. They cannot deny this because it is based on Makati’s financial records. So there is no basis for them to say that Makati will run out of funds for programs and settlements and operations because of this settlement.”
Inquirer.net tried but failed to get the comments of Nancy on her sister’s remarks.
On July 1, Nancy said the subway agreement will require the city government to pay P8.96 billion within 90 days from the issuance of the consent award by the SIAC plus a $30 million penalty, with interest, if Makati misses the scheduled payments.
“The financial standing of our city will be in crisis once the SIAC orders the settlement agreement,” she said.
