The Philippine Sports Commission has sought the wisdom of the Department of Justice on the possible sale of the sprawling Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
PSC chair Richie Garcia wrote DOJ secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday, asking whether the government sports agency has the jurisdiction to relinquish control over the 9.3-hectare sports center to the City of Manila.
“Under the law, the PSC has absolute control over the complex. We will return the property to Manila if we get a favorable response from the DOJ,” said Garcia.
Once the clearance from the justice department is hurdled, Garcia said the PSC would turn over the 80-year-old complex to the local government of Manila in exchange for P3.5 billion.
He explained the amount would be used to finance the multibillion-peso training center that the government and the Philippine Olympic Committee are planning to build in Clark Field, Pampanga.
Should the DOJ’s opinion suggest otherwise, Garcia said they have no recourse but to take the longer and time-consuming route of seeking the approval of the legislative and executive branches of the government.
“If the DOJ says that we cannot give the property back to Manila, it will take a joint act of Congress and the Senate, plus the approval of the President to make it happen,” said Garcia.
Questions cropped up whether the PSC or Manila could sell the RMSC since the property was donated in the 1930s by the Vito Cruz family, whose patriarch Hermogenes Vito Cruz was the leader of the Katipunan in Pasay City during the 1890s.
“They’re saying that there are restrictions in the deed of donation. But if you’d based it on practice and history, why was part of the property sold to Century Park or Harrison Plaza, which were all owned by the Vito Cruz family?” said Garcia.
“If there are restrictions, the title of the property cannot be transferred to Manila. Then, we’ll be out in the market looking for other sources of funding,” he added.