Land swap now irrelevant: guv

GOV. Gwendolyn Garcia said the land swap offered by the Cebu City Council is no longer relevant.

The Cebu City Council has passed on mass motion a resolution authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to revive the land swapping negotiations with the Capitol.

Garcia “wishes to thank” the City Council for the idea, yet she wants them to know that the Province of Cebu has come up with a solution for those families covered by the 93-1 ordinance.

“We don’t blame the City Council for also trying to come up with their own idea on how to address the 93-1 issue. But, we wish to update them, maybe they still don’t know that we have already made major progress in so far as addressing the concerns of more than 3,000 families with the help of the financing agencies,” Garcia said.

The governor said the price affordable to the members of the homeowners associations covered by the 93-1 ordinance has been agreed upon. The Province will sell the lots at P3,300 per square meters.

Financing

It was also agreed that the financing institutions under Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) will help the families for their payment to the Provincial Government through a community mortgage program.

Financing institutions that will help the homeowners associations include the Home Mutual Development Fund or Pag-ibig, the Socialized Housing Finance Corp., and the National Housing Authority.

She said they are looking for another memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing with the 14 homeowners association to cover 80 to 85 percent of the families affected by the 93-1 ordinance.

Last May 16, five associations signed a MOA with the Capitol and HUDCC, chaired by Vice President Jejomar Binay. Among the associations were the Cebu Skyview Village Residents Associations Inc. of Busay and that of Barangay Kalunasan. Binay attended the MOA signing.

Garcia said another 14 to 15 institutions will sign a MOA for the purchase of the Province-owned lots soon.

Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) suggested to the members of the City Council to revive the negotiation with the land swapping to the Capitol.

Garcia assured that the Council should not worry about the families covered by the 93-1 ordinance, which already expired in 2004.

“While we thank them for their concerns, we just wish to tell them that they do not need to be concerned anymore because they do not need to spend sleepless nights about this anymore,” Garcia said.