|
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Land swap plan stuck; Gwen ‘fed up’
By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Jeanette P. Malinao
Worried that a land swap could hurt the Cebu City Government, the City Council called for a joint session with the Provincial Board to iron out vague aspects of the deal and identify options other than the proposed exchange of properties.
The council again deferred approval of a resolution that will implement the land swap, until the joint session is conducted.
The resolution was not approved even after the City Attorney’s Office agreed in principle with the deal.
At least two councilors pushed for the immediate approval of the resolution yesterday, to finally give security of tenure to nearly 5,000 urban poor families who stand to benefit from the deal.
But in his privilege speech, Vice Mayor Michael Rama warned that the council should not make haphazard decisions when P400 million worth of City Hall properties are at stake.
“I am not against helping the urban poor families own the lots they are occupying, but I will also not encourage that we deal with this haphazardly. P400 million is P400 million and we don’t own this money, it belongs to the City’s taxpayers,” he told the council yesterday.
‘Fed up’
At the Capitol, a consultant pointed out that the proposed deal comes from Cebu City, not the Province.
Capitol consultant Pablo John Garcia said that Gov. Gwendolyn is Garcia is “pretty fed up” with what’s happening in the Cebu City Council, where they believe Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera has been “grandstanding at the expense of the integrity of the Province.”
Provincial Board (PB) Member Victor Maambong plans to file a resolution seeking a clarification from the City Council on its collective stand, saying that Pesquera’s statements were “an affront” to the Province.
Pesquera had blocked the land swap deal, saying the Province has included in the list of lots to be swapped some areas that do not belong to the Province or were already paid for in full by the occupants.
As for the value of the lands to be swapped, Pablo John pointed out that the fair market value of the Capitol lots is more than P1 billion, while that of Cebu City is only P470 million.
The Province refused last year to extend the deadline for the payment of the lots that Cebu City residents are occupying. This led Mayor Tomas Osmeña to propose the land swap deal to solve the “social problem.”
Collection
In yesterday’s session, however, Vice Mayor Rama said he wants to make sure the council’s decision to give up P400 million worth of property in exchange for P183 million it will eventually collect from the occupants will not be questioned later on.
“Mugawas ni nga ang problema sa Probinsya gisawo sa syudad. Murag igo na lang sila mudawat ug limpyo unya kita ang magproblema sa pangolekta...(We will be inheriting the Province’s problem. They’ll get land, while we end up with a collection problem.) I want to know where this proposal to swap originated because now it requires Cebu City to be on bended knees, when this is not our problem in the first place,” he said.
The council members admitted it was the first time they had to deliberate so lengthily on a proposed resolution, which has been pending at the council since last year.
Rama proposed to call for “a cordial joint session,” to be held soon in a neutral venue, so both legislative bodies can identify other options that will be favorable to the City, the Province and the lot occupants.
The City Council will leave it to the Provincial Board to set the date of the joint session.
The land swap deal was proposed last year to help Cebu City residents who are occupying Province-owned lots under Provincial Ordinance 93-1.
The families faced threats of eviction after they failed to pay for the lots in full within the period set by the Province.
Alternative
The City proposed to turn over to the Province a 33,740-square-meter north reclamation property worth P400 million, in exchange for the Province’s 435,991 square meters scattered across 11 barangays.
For almost two hours yesterday, the council discussed the land swap deal following two privilege speeches on the matter.
In a legal opinion, Acting City Attorney Rodolfo Golez said he supports and adopts the report of the ad hoc committee formed to review the deal.
Even if the City stands to lose more than P200 million, the committee earlier recommended the land swap deal since it would fulfill the City’s social responsibility of providing housing to urban poor families.
Golez, however, recommended revisions in the memorandum of exchange to protect the City’s interests. Among other things, he said the memorandum should include a provision that will exclude the lots already titled in the names of 338 occupants.
Having received a copy of the legal opinion, Rama said they will just wait for the outcome of the joint session before they tackle the matter in their council session again. (LCR/With JPM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 16, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
