Tuesday, February 05, 2008 Council defers land swap with Sandiganbayan By Rimaliza Opiña
THE Baguio City Council deferred approval of the resolution authorizing Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. to sign a deed of exchange for the swapping of a City Government property at Gibraltar with a property of the Sandiganbayan at Dominican Hill.
This, after Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda objected to the recommendation of the committee on laws for the approval of the signing of the deed of exchange, saying the City Government should not agree to exchanging a prime property with an "idle property". She claimed the city is at the losing end because aside from the exchange, the city has to allot P5 million for the construction and fencing of the Sandiganbayan Northern Luzon courthouse.
Tabanda said the city should first seek approval of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) before signing a deed of exchange. "It seems only the Sandiganbayan wants the swap," she said.
She added the claim of the National Power Corporation (Napocor) over the same property at the Dominican Hill also has to be looked into.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) wants to build a station at the Gibraltar property, said Councilor Isabelo Cosalan Jr., chairperson of the city council committee on lands.
Committee on laws chairman Richard Cariño refuted Tabanda's claim, saying the city government would gain because aside from owning the adjacent lot where the city could build a heritage hill and nature park, the Sandiganbayan will have a local office here.
"This is contiguous to the city's existing lot. Now we will get the whole area, is it not to the advantage of the city? This is a win-win solution," he said.
Cariño said: the city need not look into the alleged claim of Napocor or even the BFP because it was with the Sandiganbayan where the city has an existing agreement, as shown by a deed of conveyance, signed on April 2004.
The Ministry of Human Settlements (now under the PMS) previously owned the Dominican Hill property measuring over 52,000 square meters. It was, however, conveyed to the city government and the Sandiganbayan, with it being an idle property of the National Government.
On the deed of conveyance, 32,000 square meters was apportioned for Baguio and 20,000 square meters for the Sandiganbayan.
Records of the City Assessors Office showed that the Dominican property, located near the Diplomat Hotel has a market value of P20 million, while the Gibraltar property located near The Mansion and the Wright Park, has an assessed market value of close to P9 million.
Because the Sandiganbayan has not been utilizing the property, the City Government, through former mayor Bernardo Vergara, manifested interest of acquiring the property, via the swapping of a city property. A smaller property was identified at Gibraltar.
Section 76 of Presidential Decree (PD) 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines allows the swap of government properties which are no longer serviceable and may be transferred without cost, or at an appraised value to other agencies of the government.
The exchange must bear the approval of the respective heads of agencies in the National Government or government-owned and controlled corporations (Gocc), other self-governing boards or commissions.
The Sandiganbayan subsequently agreed to swap for a smaller property, with the condition the city will finance the construction of courtrooms and offices, fence the property and assure which the property is free from any claims.
These pre-conditions are contained in a draft deed of exchange, which the City Council first has to approve before the mayor signs it.
The signing of the deed of exchange was carried over to the term of former mayor Braulio Yaranon. He, likewise, approved of the swap, but this did not ensue because of the survey process. The May 2007 elections likewise caused the delay of the plan.
