Robinson’s wins round 1 in bid to develop city market

August 14, 2020 Headlines

It could be Robinsons at the foot of the Session Road, even as its rival SM will be atop the hill. This could be the likely scenario after the People Initiative Selection Committee (P4-SC) favored the offer of Robinsons Land Corporation over the SM Prime Holdings Incorporated for the city Public-Private Partnership and will be given the Original Proponent Status for the market development during a meeting at City Hall last Wednesday.
The P4 committee is set to forward same to Mayor Benjamin Magalong for confirmation as the final decision falls on the city chief executive. Dela Peña said if the mayor confirms the decision of the P4, however, Robinson’s will not yet get the award of the project.
Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, however, led the opposition in the award after she signified objection to any mall giant to take the reins in developing what she describes as the “heart of the city.”
In a message to Amianan Balita Ngayon Friday, Tabanda said: “I have a written justification for this. But I was surprised with the choice of Robinsons. Robinsons did not submit additional documents kaya hindi fully evaluated ang proposal. Yet siya ang napili!”
In a letter to dela Pena last August 13, Tabanda, a day after the P4 committee voted in favor of Robinson’s Land Corporation, said she does favor the redevelopment of the Baguio City Public Market.
“For years, the market has served as a vital part in the city. In fact, it has been called the heart of the city, it is part and has always been part of the lives of every resident. It is part of our heritage. It as a character of its own. A trip to Baguio is never complete without a visit to the public market. But age is catching up with the market, it needs to be revitalized, it needs to be developed,” Tabanda wrote.
“There is a pressing need to redevelop our Baguio City Public Market. But I am probinciana. Baguio is my hometown. Baguio is my ‘ili.’ I strongly believe that I, together with all our kailians, will lose our identity, as we lose our Baguio City Public Market. I am voting not to grant the OPS to either SM or Robinsons,” she said. Tabanda said that in the proposals, SM proposed a seven-story uilding with a roof deck with four floors dedicated for public market.
On the other hand, Robinsons will construct a multi-level retail floor with basement parking and a separate mix use complex for IT-BPO and mall. “In both proposals, the construction of the public market shall be at no cost to the city. This will save the city P1.29 billion as per the Robinson’s proposal and P2.13 billion as per the SM proposal. At first glance, this looks like a financial bonanza for the city. But after thorough analysis, I am not in favor of any of the proposals,” Tabanda said.
She said the project is supposed to be the redevelopment of the Baguio City Public Market. In the SM proposal, the two floors to house the public market will be part of the mall. “It will be more like the supermarket floor of the mall. As a Baguio resident, we are used to saying I will go to the market. Now we will be saying I will go to the mall. What happened to our public market? The fact that the floors will be managed by the city will not change, it’s the character of the being part of the mall. We will no longer have a Baguio City Pubic Market, we will be closing the heart of the aguio,” Tabanda lamented.
Tabanda said in Robinson’s proposal at least, there will be a Baguio City Public market. “But we are prepared to have a mall occupying the part of the market area? The area being requested for is not completely available. Besides, Robinsons refused to submit additional documents, hence, the proposal was not completely evaluated,” she said.
Tabanda also took notice of the cost of construction where it was said that it will cost P6 billion, but then taking a closer look, the SM proposal is P2.23 billion against the P1.29 million of Robinson’s. She argued: “This why we are very certain that the city could not afford it even if on a phase to phase basis.
This is the reason why I chose not to vote in the City Council when we were deciding on the mode of financing. As I pointed out in one council session for which I was rebuffed, we never really discussed the financial aspect of the market redevelopment. The P6 million was the estimated figure given by the technical working committee. Now, as what can be seen in the two unsolicited proposals, the financial cost is more than P3 billion…”.
Another argument of Tabanda is if the construction of more malls in the city part of the comprehensive development plans. She asked the city to give locals a chance as the presence of malls will definitely affect their business.
PML