Noli says no midnight deal with Smokey developer but...

Byline: Cynthia D. Balana

DID HE OR DIDNT HE?

The government will not sign any midnight deal seeking to extinguish all the cases and legal liabilities of those involved in the controversial and unfurled Smokey Mountain Development Reclamation Project (SMDRP) that was implemented during the Ramos administration, Vice President Noli de Castro said.

De Castro, chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), pointed this out to dispel talk about a draft memorandum of agreement and compromise agreement (MOA-CA) between Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) and construction magnate Reghis Romero II purportedly to be signed today.

HGC is an attached agency of HUDCC.

The site of the SMDRP used to be Manilas biggest dump by the Manila Bay and a symbol of poverty in the country during the Marcos regime. (See What Went Before.)

A copy of the draft obtained by the Inquirer showed that the intended signatories are Romero for R-II Builders Inc., …