CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will file the case against the Provincial Government despite Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s assurance that Barangay Apas residents will be allowed to keep their lots, saying he does not trust the governor will keep her word.

Osmeña said that given the fact that there is no written document on her assurance last Thursday, occupants of Province-owned lots in the city should be careful.

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He suspects that Garcia is only buying time until the elections, when her brother Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President Winston Garcia is able to enter Cebu City politics.

Members of the Alliance of Barangay Apas Community Associations (Abaca) are also waiting for the written contract to cover the agreement they reached with the governor, whom they are scheduled to meet again on Nov. 20.

They are also concerned about the 100 families who will be displaced and will be relocated to two other lots which they believe are already congested.

Sought for comment, Capitol spokesperson Rory Jon Sepulveda said the mayor is just envious.

“By the way, suya lang siya because now, he cannot play hero. What is he going to do now? Sue Capitol and Abaca to prevent an agreement?” Sepulveda said in a text message.

“Hahaha. As I’ve said, he has all the right to act as a fool. He’s quite good at it,” he added.

Osmeña, for his part, believes that Gwendolyn’s backtracking on her policy to relocate Apas residents is just for “show.”

“And some people will believe that (Gwendolyn). It’s such an emotional thing to them that they will believe anything that’s good. That’s how cruel your governor is... So just be careful, you don’t know who you’re dealing with. Now she’s saying ‘don’t worry, this is a win-win solution,’ then in the end Winston will come out... After election and Winston is mayor, patay kamong tanan, goodbye gyud,” he said.

The mayor believes that projecting businessman Jonathan Guardo and Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos as candidates for mayor and vice mayor is part of the publicity stunt and the governor’s show.

In the end, he said, it will be Winston who will run against Vice Mayor Michael Rama.

“They just have to buy time until the elections, so we’re going to file the case now... they’re just making peace now and saying ‘I will not evict you’ just to soften the people’s hearts,” Osmeña added.

But members of Abaca are not celebrating yet and are instead adopting a wait-and-see attitude on the Capitol’s promise regarding the land where 1,200 homes are built.

Ma. Linda Paracuelles, Abaca president, said what they got was just a commitment from the Provincial Government.

They still have to see the signing of an agreement before they can truly say that they finally got what they have been fighting for, which is to keep their homes.

Residents and Apas and Abaca officials met with the governor in a two-hour dialogue where they were given the assurance that they will be allowed to stay in the barangay.

The governor said that they came up with a win-win solution during the closed-door meeting, which she initiated. She approved Abaca’s proposal that was most acceptable to the Provincial Government, which is to have the 1,200 families stay in a 12-hectare area in the barangay.

She said that though the residents cannot vote for her, they are still Cebuanos whom she should help.

Most Abaca members will be staying where they are because they chose an area where members are concentrated.

Paracuelles said that for classification, they labeled the area near Maria Luisa as Lot A and the central part of Apas as Lot B. Lot C is where their barangay hall is located.

The governor approved the retention of Lots B and C, which means those with homes there will not be displaced.

Paracuelles told Sun.Star that around 100 families who will be displaced from Lot C will be moved to areas within Lot B, as “every inch of Lot C is already concentrated” with residents.

The governor said Capitol will shoulder the expenses and will work with the national government and its housing agencies to help those who need to be transferred.

The Abaca members had been asking the Capitol to instead sell to them the lot they are occupying.

They were alarmed after the signing of an agreement by the governor and Defense Sec. Gilberto Teodoro last month turning over the Central Command lot, which encompasses their homes, back to the Capitol.