93-1 lots in Busay get price tag

Friday, January 27, 2012

THE Cebu Governor’s Office and the Provincial Board (PB) have agreed to peg a 5.2-hectare lot in Barangay Busay, Cebu City at P3,300 per square meter.

The lot is covered by Provincial Ordinance 93-1, which allows settlers of Province-owned properties to buy the lots they are occupying.

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Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said she will submit an authority to the Provincial Board (PB) to enter into a memorandum of agreement with residents.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who will be in Cebu to sponsor a mass wedding, may attend the signing on Feb. 14.

Garcia met with the PB in a closed-door luncheon meeting yesterday.

In an interview at the receiving area of her office, Garcia said they have agreed with the PB on the price based on Cebu City's fair market value and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) zonal valuation.

To get the certification for the fair market value from Cebu City, they based it from
the most recent sale of a property in the Busay area.

Garcia said they also got the zonal valuation of the BIR, which was based on the last

sale in 2011 because there's no record yet for this year.

Little higher

She said Capitol went a little higher at P2,000 per square meter, since the fair market value certified by the City of Cebu was P4,600 per square meter. BIR’s zonal valuation of the last certified sale was about P1,800.

The Province then added P4,600 and P2,000, and computed the average price of P3,300.

“That's how we arrived at the price," Garcia added.

When the PB’s Ordinance 93-1 was still in effect, she said, residents were offered to purchase it at P300 to P400 per square meter. But the ordinance was valid only up to 2004.

The homeowners’ association wrote to Garcia and offered to buy the entire lot, including the non-buildable areas of more than one-hectare and the existing road networks.

She said the formula was fair enough for everyone concerned. Asking the PB on their thoughts, the governor said they reached a consensus of P3,300 per square meter.

Some ‘kinks’

In a separate interview right after their meeting, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said there's still some “kinks” because it seemed that there was a mistake from the appraisal committee.

She said that in principle, they support the governor, adding that the PB will give her the authority once they will get a report from the appraisal committee.

“We have to move on. We have to sell (and) solve this problem. It's a nagging problem,” she told reporters.

Garcia said she will be given the authority on Monday during the PB session.

The association will make a lump-sum payment through a financial institution.