Give City’s share: Rama to FLI

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama will again ask Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) to give the city’s share in its sale of condominium units in their joint venture at the South Road Properties (SRP).

He said it’s unfair that FLI continues to sell its condo units but the property developer doesn’t give the City Government its share.

“Dili na mahimo. Dapat muhatag na sila kay unsa na rong buwana, wa pa silay nahatag sa syudad unya gasige sila og baligya (They keep selling units but they haven’t given anything to the City yet),” Rama said.

The mayor said he wants to see FLI representatives within this week to remind them of their commitment to the City Government.

As stated in the joint venture agreement, the City gets a 10-percent share from the sale of built-up units in the 40-hectare area, or a minimum guaranteed return, whichever is higher, which the City gets annually.

Joint venture

Early this year, former City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva sent a letter to FLI and demanded for P600 million as the city’s share from the joint venture.

However, FLI first vice president for the Visayas and Mindanao Tristan Las Marias, in his reply last June, found the claim of Oliva wrong and baseless.

He invited Oliva to review FLI’s sales and collection record so she can be guided on the correct amount of shares that the City ought to receive.

However, Oliva was relieved last month before she could send examiners to FLI to check its book of accounts.

City Treasurer Emma Villarete, Oliva’s successor, said they already sent a letter to FLI asking the property developer to sit down with them to determine the City’s actual share in the joint venture.

Communication

But until last week, Villarete said, FLI has yet to reply on their letter and they haven’t received any official communication from them.

She learned, though, that FLI agreed to give a considerable amount in advance subject to adjustments once the actual share will be determined.

But the city treasurer has no idea how much the property developer will give in advance to the City Government because the agreement is only between the executive department and FLI representatives.

The mayor confirmed that FLI, in their previous meeting, promised to give an advance payment but he refused to divulge the amount.

Agreement

“Huwaton lang nako kay mao man nay among giestoryahan. They should be visiting me and I would like to see them (Let’s just wait because that’s our agreement),” Rama said.

Last June, FLI also paid its fourth amortization to the City amounting to P245.2 million for the lot it purchased in the SRP.

The 10.6-hectare lot on the waterfront of the SRP is part of the joint venture agreement that the property developer inked with the City Government in 2009.

FLI bought the property for P1.79 billion, which is payable in seven years with an interest of five percent.