PRESIDENTIAL aspirant and Defense Sec. Gilberto Teodoro and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia are among the respondents of the case the Cebu City Government will file this week to protect the occupants of Province-owned lots in the city.

But Mayor Tomas Osmeña, other city officials and lawyers are mum on what the case is about, saying only that it covers Friar Lands, the Central Command property and
other properties of the Province in 11 Cebu City barangays.

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The 138-page complaint will be filed anytime this week, the mayor said.

He said that Teodoro will be included in the suit because he is a signatory in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Province of Cebu, which reverted the ownership of the Centcom lots to Capitol.

But Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda called Osmeña’s threat of filing a case against the Province a political ploy so that he will become the hero in the eyes of the Alliance of Barangay Apas Community Association (Abaca) members.

Not political scheme

“What case are they going to file? Naa ba gud miy gipapa-hawa? Magbuot na diay sila sa property owners? (Did we evict anyone? Are they dictating to the landowners now?)” Sepulveda said.

“The governor is not idolizing Mayor Tomas Osmeña so rest assured, this is not a political scheme,” said Sepulveda on Capitol’s intention to take care of Abaca members.

He was reacting to Osmeña’s statement that Capitol is using Abaca so that the affected residents would vote for Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Winston Garcia for Cebu City mayor.

Winston, the governor’s brother, has transferred his registration from Mandaue City to Cebu City, heightening speculations that he intends to run for mayor.

“Tomas wants to be a hero, he’s doing this for pogi points in aid of election,” Sepulveda also said.

He added that it should have been the job of the City Government to take care of informal settlers, but the Province is doing it for them in the case of Abaca.

“It is not the legal obligation of the landowners to find relocation for the informal settlers,” Sepulveda said.

Despite that though, the consultant said that Capitol will take care of Abaca members, just like it did the 93-1 residents.

But in separate interviews yesterday, Osmeña, City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez, Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman and lawyer Ben Militar declined from discussing the complaint, saying they will only do so when it is filed.

Bernaldez said, though, that it is a complicated case because it seeks to resolve several issues and will answer questions on certain laws.

“It’s a type of case that I’m sure will settle significant questions on the law, or matters involving the law. Part of our presentations on the case is the Friar Lands Act, and it will also trace Constitutional issues. I’m sure the court will have a hard time resolving the issues, more so that the other party will advance their position,” Bernaldez said yesterday.

The City is filing the case to protect the security of tenure of some 6,000 families occupying Province-owned lots in the city.

For his part, Osmeña, in yesterday’s 888 News Forum at Marco Polo Plaza, said the City will protect the interest of the urban poor, and narrated how he started upon his return from the United States by living in several slum areas of the city.

He said the urban poor propelled him to the mayorship the first time, as only one of the 80 barangay captains supported him that time.

Asked if there is a chance for him and Garcia to restore their good relations, Osmeña said what matters to him is seeing the urban poor live without fear of being evicted from their homes because they do not own the land.

In a special session last Monday, the City Council authorized the mayor to file a case in court in order to protect the interest of its constituents who stand to lose their houses in the turnover of Capitol-owned lots.

In his news conference yesterday, Vice Mayor Michael Rama said he does not think it is premature to file a case when Capitol has not sent eviction notices to the occupants.

He said that at this time, the executive department is still reviewing the legal remedies available to protect the security of tenure of the families.

“If a particular case may be filed, a lot of people will benefit from it, not just the Apas residents but also the National Government offices that stand on provincial lots, including also the Friar Lands beneficiaries,” Rama said.

Among other things, the City will ask the court to determine what would prevail: the MOA before the DND and Capitol or the Urban Developing and Housing Act (UDHA).

The City Council said that the MOA signed last Oct. 12 dispossess all occupants and violates provisions of the Friar Lands Act and the UDHA, which allows occupants of the lots to own the properties if these have not been developed for more than five years.