Dealing with Problems

An attempt to Do Business in the Philippines

thoughts of an American investor

For two years now, we have tried to establish some businesses in the Municipality of Lianga, Surigao del Sur.  (See http://benjieinlianga.blogspot.com/2009/03/marks-travails.html and http://stchristine.blogspot.com/2008/07/vision-for-future.html)

Our project with Phoenix Petroleum is waiting for us to acquire the Title for the 7000 sq. mt. portion of Lot 2169. My plan has always remained on course, albeit slower than I expected. Many of the obstacles that have slowed our progress continue to slow us from providing the economic benefits to this community that we initially sought. The DENR CENRO has refused since April 3, 2008 to provide us the requested Survey Authority for Lot 2169 claiming the request was lost. A second attempt was made on July 7, 2010, where the DENR supported the false claims presented by Mr. Bienvinido V. Estrebillo, and refused to issue the Survey Authority until an arrangement could be made with the claimant.

On August 25, 2010 we held a meeting with the Interim CENRO, PENRO, and DENR Officials or employees, presenting my request for an end to the many obstacles. I provided documentation that showed the ownership trail at least back to the CAD Survey in 1989, approving Pacifico Ballares (on April 25, 1995) as survey claimant (Certified Copy DENR FORM NO. 700-2A). 

Philippine Local Government Code of 1991; “CHAPTER 4 - The Sangguniang Barangay, SECTION. 391. Powers, Duties, and Functions, The Sangguniang Barangay, as the legislative body of the Barangay, shall:, (12) Authorize the Punong Barangay to enter into contracts in behalf of the Barangay, subject to the provisions of this Code; (f) Adopt measures to prevent and control the proliferation of squatters and mendicants in the Barangay;”. During our meeting I asked whether there was ever a Survey Authority on Lot 2169 sub-dividing it for ownership by someone other than Pacifico Ballares, their response was “No”. Without a prior Survey Authority there is only one owner of that Lot, and it was the responsibility of the Barangay to protect that lot while under protest.

On May 27, 2008, the Lianga Municipal Assessor certified that: "...per office records Tax Declaration/ARP No. 99-11-001-00682 is declared in the name of PACIFICO BALLRES [sic] with an area of 2.1385 has. Located at Barangay St. Christine, Lianga, Surigao del Sur, is appearing to have no existing improvements." 

The Beginning of the Story 

A protest by the Barangay lasting for more than 12 years, with its Captain at the time, mounting the protestations prevented any development on some of the land areas of Barangay St. Christine. Barangay Resolution No. 114, Series of 2008 resulting from a Regular Session of the Sangguiniang Barangay on April 7, 2008, withdrew the 12 year protest on Lot 2169, paving the way for some much needed community development. The community had suffered years of neglect from a lack of development after a Georgia Pacific company "Lianga Bay Logging Company " (See: http://benjieinlianga.blogspot.com/2006/08/about-lianga.html) ended its operation.


In an agreement on August 13, 2008, between Barangay St. Christine Council, Pacifico Ballares (March 16, 2000 CENRO Certification as Owner), and Mark and Merejen Borders, the protest was withdrawn by the Barangay, and a waiver of rights declared by Pacifico Ballares. We would complete a Sub-Division Plan and Survey; awarding Lot 2169B - 7,385 sq. mt. by Deed of Donation to the Barangay, Lot 2169C - 7,000 sq. mt. to Pacifico Ballares, and Lot 2169A - 7,000 sq. mt. by Deed of Sale to Merejen Borders in return for our support of a future Barangay Market on Lot 2169B. In return the Barangay was tasked "shall likewise undertake to clear the area of unlawful occupants including the adjacent area where the gas station will be erected." So why are we even dealing with this issue?

Mysteriously appearing documents?

Mr. Estrebillo's documents claim a 450 sq. mt. area as Lot 2169D, it is strange that his claim is not Lot 2169B, or F, or G. It is Lot 2169D because our Survey Authority was requested in April 3, 2008 for Lot 2169A, B, & C. Some of the documents presented by Mr. Estrebillo were obviously produced here at the DENR in Lianga. I can confirm this because during one of my waits for a meeting that never took place, I witnessed one of the DENR employees prepare a similar document as presented by Mr. Estrebillo. This is really not Rocket Science folks.

A meeting scheduled for August 31, 2010 was not held because the Interim CENRO did not appear. A rescheduled meeting will be held on September 2, 2010 where I will provide the DENR one final opportunity to choose to do the right thing and award us our Survey Authority. I will post an update after the meeting. 

Results and what is lost

The DENR has held up the progress of our projects to help benefit the community. They do this to an individual, who's first act upon coming to live here with his wife in April 2007, was to donate 430,000 pesos in materials for Barangay St. Christine to improve the Water System, supplying water to much of the Barangay (Purok 3, 4, 5, and 6). This was an outright "Donation" never to be repaid and no special favors requested. In fact the only thing that was asked of the Barangay was for them to provide free water to all schools, day cares, medical facilities, churches, and government buildings. The very next project was providing 63,593 pesos for the refurbishment of the Barangay Hall. For anyone who is counting the following list might be helpful.

Date	Recipient	Particulars	Amount
4/8/2008	Barangay Liatimco	Loan for Seaweed Buying	30,000.00
5/7/2008	Barangay San Isidro	Loan for Cementing Basketball Court	30,000.00
5/10/2008	Barangay St. Christine	Loan to cover check from Government	30,000.00
5/15/2008	Barangay San Isidro	Dance Contest Prizes	12,000.00
5/24/2008	Barangay St. Christine	Loan for Fiesta Expense	15,000.00
5/30/2008	Barangay Saint Christine	Dance Contest Prizes	12,000.00
6/3/2008	Barangay St. Christine	Loan for DENR Payment for Land Sketch	10,000.00
7/19/2008	Lianga Tennis Club	Tournament Prize and Court Improvements	20,000.00
7/20/2008	Lianga Tennis Club	Bike Race Prize	5,000.00
10/27/2008	Lianga Youth Basketball	Donation for Uniforms	3,000.00
		Total	167,000.00

I think our actions helping the community deserves the respect with which we hold the community. We have further plans to aid the community on other projects in the future including the Public Market, and continued work on the Water System.

The Future

Our business plans for Lot 2169A calls for the employment of 40 employees at the sawmill, 16 employees at the Gas Station, and 10 employees at the Ice Plant. Those numbers will be reached hopefully within a year of the start of each business. Our employees will earn a reasonable wage while the businesses are below the requirements for minimum wage. But as the businesses grow and our employment reaches 10 or more, then we will strictly follow the minimum wage requirements for this Region. We will also adhere to the requirements for SSS and PhilHealth.

Check the Comments where I will post updates that are time stamped as I fill in future information.

Someday Soon!

Many people are asking if we will ever finish the Phoenix Gas Station. The short answer is YES.

It would take a lot out of me to explain all the complex things that have happened over the past few months. But to help quite down the rumors, let me just say paperwork was a much larger hurdle for me to leap than I first thought. Even the land where we will be putting the Gas Station was a problem. That land was in fact owned by a wonderful gentleman of the community, but it was under protest by an official that only had his own bank account in mind, not the good of the community.

The truth about the land was easily discovered by a trip to the Regional Office of the DENR. And for any in this area, you should take that trip yourself if you have any dealings with the official I mentioned.

My wife and I spent many hours talking to the owner, explaining what we would like to see in the community, and what we believed could be done to improve the economic conditions in the area. We have always believed that the community needed jobs for its citizens; a place to work, where a salary could give a family much needed support in very trying times. And much more than this, a business site that the community could feel pride in, a showcase for the area. That is the reason for choosing Phoenix, a mythical bird which near the end of its life - builds itself a nest of myrrh twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. In our mind St. Christine could rise out of the ashes of the Lianga Bay Logging Company and be reborn, to live again and become what my wife’s family loved about their community. Our plans are to have a beautifully landscaped area where people will enjoy stopping by to fill their tanks. With a play yard for children, so on those long rides mom and dad can let the kids take a break from the car and just play a while. A comfortable stop for people to sit down and have a snack, with shaded tables, a friendly place to remember when the trip is over.

The owner out of kindness to us and their community decided on a plan that would GIVE a small portion of the 2.1 Hectares to us for the Gas Station to improve the community under the condition that we agree to hire people from the local community first. Then the Barangay would be given the largest portion, under the agreement that they would build, at some point, a Barangay Public Market on it and that we would help with the financing when that started. The remaining portion would remain with the family. Under the agreement the Barangay would lift the 16 year old protest.

All seemed to be going good until certain people wanted to get their hands involved. It took much longer to get the paperwork complete so we could submit everything to the Phoenix Company for their approval. So we convinced the company to come here without all the paperwork and they were convinced that we had indeed picked the perfect location. Many times since they have called to check on our progress, and have invited us to meetings, parties, and conferences. Phoenix is a community loving company; they give back to the community and go out of their way to fit in, a lot like this American.

Most of the struggles have now ended, and as you can see from the picture; some moves are underway. At times we have had to put the filling on hold while we concentrated our efforts on other projects like the Mini-Sawmill which will be employing 16 residents when it opens. And of course I had a little driving problem in January, but all this is just minor and will in no way stop what we are doing. We believe in our community and we will keep working as hard as we can to achieve our goal of helping our friends.

More to come later, but we hope that this helps some of you understand where we are and where we intend to go. Please keep us in your prayers and give us time to finish what we believe will be something everyone will be proud of in this community.

Mark and Merejen

Temporary

Hi folks, just want to let any in the area that read this to know that we have temporarily stopped the filling operations at the gas station site. This is in no way permanent; we just have other projects that needed my immediate attention at this time. The release date of our paperwork on the Mini-Sawmill at Regional Office of DENR is December 2, so there was a lot of work that needed to be done at the time the papers were to be released.
There are several construction projects that needed to be completed at the Sawmill site, as well as some personal appearances that I needed to make, and I just didn't want too much going on where it was possible that my direct attention might have been needed in one place while I was off in another.
After the Sawmill is taken care of, we will be right back to the filling work at the gas station site at full steam.

Why St. Christine

Many people over the past few months, here in our little piece of paradise, have asked me what made me chose St. Christine as the site for a gas station. It is a real hard question to answer. My decision took about two years to finalize and it came after many hours and days weighing all the pros and cons. I actually had 4 other sites picked as possible candidates, and the method I used in determining the final location is a bit confusing. Simply put the decision was based on my estimation that it was in St. Christine, but only in the exact location that the filling is continuing now, where the most benefits to the whole community could be realized.
I needed a location that was capable of providing the maximum return on investment so I could continue with my other projects using the returns from the gas station. The combination of the fishing boats and the combined population of Diatagon and St. Christine meant higher usage in that area versus any other area in the municipality. The fishing boats in my opinion needed better access to the fuel. If the fishing boats had to spend less time and less money to get their boats loaded with fuel, they could in return offer their catch at a lower price to all of us wanting the fruits of their labor. The plan for the gas station is to extend a line from my tanks to the waterfront and offer a pump on the Diatagon River for boats to pump fuel directly into their boats. I wanted to eliminate the need for them to have elaborate transportation systems just to get fuel into their tanks. When making my decision, I needed a place close enough to the water where these boats could dock and take on fuel. The site in St. Christine is the place.
Another question that sometimes comes up is; why Phoenix? A quick look at their website will shed some light on that for those who know me. http://www.phoenixphilippines.com/ They have a compatible philosophy to my own. Just take a look at their Mission, Visions, and Core Values under the Company tab in their website. I.e.: We take social responsibility to heart by building programs to nurture the environment and uplift the life of the communities we serve. Also the idea of the Phoenix appeals to me for both the community and myself. A phoenix is a mythical bird with a tail of beautiful gold and red plumage (or purple and blue, by some sources). It has a 600-800 year life-cycle, and near the end the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. And it is known in Christianity as a symbol of Christ representing His resurrection, immortality, and life-after-death. This community needs a rebirth, the days of the Lianga Bay Logging Company are gone, but many are still living in that past glory without thinking of what they can do to replace that glory. They need the idea of the Phoenix to revitalize this community and let it fulfill its potential. Even the company officials from Phoenix immediately saw the potential and were anxious to become part of our community. For myself I came here and wanted to start a new life, to get over the loss of my closest friends, my mother and grandmother in a one year period of time. This is my time to rise, and in the process, bring along a people that are in so desperate a need for some direction in their life. In so many ways, the symbology is very fitting.

Getting Started Slowly

Finally!!! Phoenix St. Christine begins to rise!!!
The filling of our gas station site has finally begun. It has been a long tedious road to get to this point, but most of the obstacles are over now. We are getting the support and help we need to get this vital project realized. Gov. Pimentel graciously agreed to help us with the 9000 cubic meters of filling to bring the site to road level. His support for the development of the Barangay is deeply appreciated, and should be remembered by all the local residents. Likewise Johnny Pimentel has lent his support and advise to this area a great deal and will always be held in great regard by my family and I, as he pursues his future. Phoenix officials have extended their support to our project by supplying a temporary fuel tank and dispenser for the trucks and equipment working at the site.

Coming Soon

Help is on the way for our fishermen in the Lianga area. For several months Jen and I have pursued a franchise with Phoenix Petroleum to place a gas station in St. Christine, including gas pumps on a floating dock on Diatagon River. It is our hopes that this will reduce the expense to the fishermen as well as reduce the time it takes them to refuel their boats. We are nearing the last steps before construction and we hope to be open this year. We are dedicated to helping our community grow and develop and we hope that this will be a sign to others to do the same.
Mark and Merejen