ANGELES CITY, Pampanga — “Our contract with CDC (Clark Development Corporation) has two components: a lease and a service contract. The service contract is expiring in October, but the lease is NOT EXPIRING. In fact, we have 50 years under RA 7652.”

This was the statement made by Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) executive vice president Vicky Gaetos during a press conference held at the Quest Hotel inside Clark Freeport here on Thursday.

The operator and lessee of the 100-hectare engineered Kalangitan sanitary landfill in Tarlac says, “The Lease contract grants us use of the 100-hectares for an integrated waste management center (Article II, section 1 of the contract). Since the lease is not expiring, we can continue to dispose at the landfill, even after 2024.”

The MCWMC has filed a case in Angeles City court as it seek judicial intervention to help prevent a massive garbage crisis in Central and Northern Luzon regions, as the company asserts its contract of lease and services is not expiring in October and “it is now up to the Courts to decide on the issue.”

“It’s is neither the Bases Conversion Development Authority nor Clark Development Corporation who will decided what happens now. We leave it all to the Courts to resolve this issue once and for all,” Gaetos said.

She added Metro Clark filed the case so that CDC will accurately reflect the 50-year lease, as was originally agreed upon by the parties at the time of the signing, and which is consistent with the law (RA 7652).

“As they have not been responsive to our request for years, we have filed for Reformation of Instrument, so that the contract accurately reflect the intention of the parties, and Fixing of Period, so the court can determine what is the correct period for the Lease,” she added.

“We are supported by law,” Gaetos declared as she cited RA 7652, or the “Investors Lease Act” and EO (Executive Order) 429 passed by then President Fidel V. Ramos in 1997.

RA 7652 was passed in 1993, and allows foreign investors to enter into long term leases of land for productive investments.

Meanwhile, EO 429 passed by President Ramos in 1997, granted the same privilege to local investors. It allows investors to lease lands for a period not exceeding 50-years, with option for one time renewal of 25 years.

The German consortium that made the investment to construct the Integrated Waste Management Center, were attracted by RA 7652 and invested on that basis, with the understanding that they would get the 50 year lease.