A&M Corporation, which is owned by Independent gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, on Wednesday paid the Department of Public Land $207.99 in rental fee with interest after receiving a notice of violation of the terms and conditions of the lease agreement for a property in Lower Base.
The notice of violation was in response to the joint complaints submitted by Steven Dela Cruz and William Villagomez who alleged that A&M Corp. had unpaid arrears, and had been subleasing the government property to a private company.
After a review of the lease contract and records of payment, DPL Secretary Sixto Igisomar informed Dela Cruz and Villagomez that the lessee “is current with its monthly installment obligations to DPL” under the settlement agreement between DPL and A&M Corp. on May 9, 2020.
Igisomar said as of Oct. 4, 2022, “lessee was current with its gross receipt’s rental obligations with DPL through the end of the second quarter of 2022.”
He said a charge of $202.50 was assessed on Oct. 6, 2022, and remained outstanding with interest, so the total amount owed to DPL under the lease was $207.99.
On Nov. 18, 2022, DPL Compliance Director Gregory P. Deleon Guerrero issued a notice of violation, and informed A&M President Maria Palacios that the corporation had breached its lease. The lessee, the director said, must cure the violations within 30 days from the date of the receipt of notice. Failure to cure the violations within 30 days would place lessee in automatic default of the lease.
Highly suspect
In a statement to Variety on Wednesday, Palacios said he finds it “highly suspect” that the DPL secretary chose to highlight the issue a few days before the Nov. 24 runoff election.
“As for the quarterly amount owed by A&M Corporation, that has already been paid. I was notified of the amount due two weeks ago and I paid it this morning. Regarding the sublease of the warehouse to a third-party, it was permitted under the original lease and DPL has been on notice since day one. However, in an abundance of caution, I have forwarded this letter to my attorneys for further review and to consult with me on my options,” Palacios said.
“I found out that Secretary Sixto Igisomar was pushing local media to publish a negative article about me since yesterday, before I was even officially served with the notice. To be clear, I only received the notice today at 1:45 p.m. To me, his actions are highly unethical and politically charged,” he added.
For his part, the campaign chairman of the Palacios-Apatang tandem, former Speaker Oscar M. Babauta, said, “Although I appreciate the DPL secretary’s concern for diligently seeking payment of $207.99 to the agency, which has already been paid, I encourage him to put more meaningful efforts to collect the outstanding rent and security deposit from IPI, amounting to over half a million dollars.”
