House urges probe on sale of NKTI lots

National Kidney and Transplant Institute

Quezon City, Metro Manila

 

By JUNE S. BLANCO 

QUEZON CITY. – The Lower House is pushing the investigation in aid of legislation the alleged sale of lots reserved for the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) by the National Housing Authority (NHA) to the SM Development Corporation.

Introduced by Rep. Erico B. Aumentado (2nd District, Bohol), House Resolution 2930 states that the NKTI has been granted usufructory rights over the lots it now occupies including parking areas and other appurtenances.

Aumentado explained that these rights are vested in Presidential Proclamation 2381 considering that NKTI is a government owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Health (DOH). It is the leading kidney and transplant institute in the country. Its operation stands to be jeopardized if its property holding will be diminished by sale.

The Bohol solon said NKTI Medical Director Jose Dante Dator had learned of the impending sale of two areas – once covering 8,402 square meters, and the other, 7,932 sq. m. – only through newspaper ads published by NHA last September. One lot is the institute’s parking area while the other is the subject of a dispute involving alleged illegal settlers.

The resolution stated that there seems to be bad faith on the part of NHA because Dator had said until the publication of the notices of disposition, the NKTI and the NHA had been negotiating for the transfer of the land from the housing agency to the hospital and had agreed on the mode of payment – medical services for NHA workers.

The resolution recognizes the need for the establishment of a business hub as envisioned by the Quezon City government and NHA but such development must be balanced with the requirements of NKTI.

On top of the House probe, the resolution also provided that the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization will also probe the alleged sale and to recommend the appropriate legislations on the issue under consideration.