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Thursday, April 21, 2005
CH wants P14.9M foto deal
Authority to enter into a P14.9-million contract to buy aerial photos of the entire Cebu City is being sought for Mayor Tomas Osmeña by the local bids and awards committee (BAC).
BAC member Nigel Paul Villarete said the photos will be used for planning in the next 20 years.
But an official of Talisay City believes these may have implications on the fight over the South Reclamation Project (SRP).
In asking the Cebu City Council to give authority to Osmeña, the BAC resolution dated Feb. 18 said these aerial photos can be bought directly from the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Manila.
There was no bidding.
BAC used Section 48, Rule 16 of the implementing rules of the New Government Procurement Reform Act, defining the alternative procurement methods subject to the approval of the head of the procuring entity.
The City Council deferred approval this week of the proposed deal and set an executive session with Namria officials and Geographic Information System (GIS) representatives on May 18 to learn more about the need for the purchase.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama asked, “Why does it have to be P14.9 million? Are we going to buy the sky?”
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, proponent of the measure, said GIS needs the aerial photos so it will be able to come up with the correct figures on the land area of Cebu City.
Conflict
But Talisay City Attorney Aurora Econg sees a conflict of interest on the part of Namria, “considering it is a government unit in charge of the mapping and resource information and it is paid by the government.”
“I could be wrong but we are relying very much on Namria for its unbiased decision on our problem with Cebu City on the South Reclamation Project (SRP),” she told Sun.Star Cebu Tuesday.
The Talisay City Government filed an opposition to Namria’s survey results that said only 2.087 hectares of the SRP encroached on Talisay’s territory, and not 53.44 hectares as Talisay claims.
But Villarete assured that the P14.9-million transaction with Namria has nothing to do with the City’s application for special patents on the SRP with DENR.
“Cebu City is not beholden to Namria since the approval of the special patents lies in the hands of Malacañang,” said Villarete.
“We are not a party to Talisay’s opposition. Besides, they are the ones requesting for the survey and when the competent agency gave them the results, they now want to fight that agency. Cebu City’s application for the SRP titles has no connection with the mapping. Only malicious people will connect one with the other,” he said.
Many uses
The P14.9-million budget for the aerial photos of the City was the biggest bulk of the second supplemental budget last year.
Although some officials find the undertaking expensive, Villarete said the photos will be used by the Geographic Information System-Management Information and Computer Services (GIS-Mics) office.
The GIS-Mics needs the photos because the existing aerial view of the city was the satellite photo taken in the 1990s, he said.
He said the photos will also be part of physical and geographical data—such as the existence of road networks, different structures, vegetation cover, waterways and drainage—-needed in actual land use planning for the next 20 years.
These can also be used in the drafting of the drainage master plan.
In a related development, the Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines (GEP) in Region 7 noted “discrepancies” in the SRP sketch, which they suspect might have been used by Cebu City in applying for a special patent for the reclaimed land.
The GEP said the numbering on the sketch plan was not in order, while old surveys were not plotted.
Econg, when sought for comment, said the GEP’s observations are favorable to Talisay City.
GEP 7 president Carmelito Delfin said the group secured a copy of the SRP sketch plan that was prepared by Edgar Batiquin, a geodetic engineer, and approved by DENR 7 technical director for lands Diana Apistar. (GAC/LLV)
(April 21, 2005 issue)
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