Congress must block the alleged plan to sell the country’s war reparation assets in Japan because of their immense symbolic value, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Wednesday.
Rodriguez has filed House Resolution No.1220 stopping the sale of assets that the country acquired from Japan under a reparations agreement on May 9, 1956.
He said two of these properties are located in the Roppongi and Nampedai districts in Tokyo while the other two are in Kobe.
Rodriguez cited the recent revelation of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr. of an alleged plot to use the proceeds from the proposed sale of these assets as a “retirement fund of last resort” for some government officials “who’ve run through the budgets of their own agencies.”
The Mindanao lawmaker said previous attempts to unload the assets had prompted the Supreme Court (SC) to rule “that the Roppongi property is correctly classified under the Civil Code as properly belonging to the State and intended for some public service.”
He said the High Court also ruled that the Roppongi asset “is valuable not so much because of the inflated prices fetched by real property in Tokyo but more so because of its symbolic value to all Filipinos veterans and civilians alike.”
Rodriguez quoted the SC ruling: "Whether or not the Roponggi and related properties will eventually be sold is a policy determination where both the President and Congress must concur. Considering the properties’ importance and value, the laws on conversion and disposition of property of public dominion must be faithfully followed.”
“It is clear in the decision of the Supreme Court that any such conveyance must be authorized and approved by a law enacted by Congress, and that it requires executive and legislative concurrence,” Rodriguez said.