Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong briefly attended the executive session which gathered government stakeholders on the SM Public Private Partnership (PPP) market redevelopment deal
A councilor who declined to be identified confirmed the presence of the mayor in the closed-door session with the city council and the government led Technical Working Group at Camp John Hay to discuss points in the Non-Disclosure Agreement.
The legislator said Magalong answered queries on the exclusion of a non-compete clause for the supposed deal to which he confirmed that SM will indeed sell fish, meat, and vegetables as well other items but noted that the goods sold by the mall giant will be more expensive than in the existing local market stake holders.
Ideally, the non-compete clause assures vendors that SM will not sell products which will be in direct competition with existing wares already in the public market, a facet originally included in the initial talks.
The legislator said the most alarming part of the meeting was the proposed plan of SM Prime Holdings to set up at the frontage of the public market main doors will be an SM entrance, with a 425 square meter atrium, serving as the entry to the new public market section.
Under the PPP SM market deal, a mall, market area, parking lot as well as development of open spaces will rise in the public market with a 50-year lease period. Parts of the area will be operated and managed by SM while some will be delegated to the City.
Other fine points of the closed-door Executive Session were overall cost or investment which has been publicly disclosed to be approximately P4.5 billion with P1.8 billion will be specifically allocated and used for the market portion of the development.
The rest of the funds will be used for the retail portion.
The city council is now in the midst of a 120-day review period for the SM market deal which started September 10 and ends January 10, 2026, in which decision to accept the project, or accept with revisions or reject it all together will ensure, sealing the fate the public market.
The unnamed legislator said the project has an estimated Return on Investment (ROI) of 27 years which led the group to question why the lease agreement is set for a period of 50 years.
The SM development is planned to have an multi story building with floors dedicated to house both the retail and market sections while an 8-story parking lot is also set to be built, the traffic plan as well as the impact of the high-rise structures will have to be studied as well as the effect on air quality.
Another executive session will ensue to determine how much the city will spend for the project as it will also entail a cost despite being a PPP with SM Prime Holdings to be invited to the meeting, but will also be closed for the public, under the PPP guidelines. Maria Elena Catajan