Friday, February 23, 2007 Capitol owns Fuente rotunda By Minerva B. Gerodias Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Linette C. Ramos
THE Fuente Osmeña rotunda sits on two Cebu Province-owned lots and Capitol has the titles to prove its ownership of the park and the area surrounding it.
Based on the transfer certificates of title obtained from the Capitol Real Estate Division, the rotunda is covered by lot number 2-B-2 and lot number 527.
Both titles state that the lots were registered on Sept. 23, 1913.
The old Larsian road, which the Provincial Government closed last Monday, is part of lot 2-B-2.
The closure of the road was seen as the Province’s way to retaliate after the City Government ordered a moratorium on the development projects in Province-owned lots in Banilad and Talamban.
But Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia explained that it is just part of her thrust to repossess Province-owned lots.
Cebu City Hall does not have any record or document showing that it owns the two-hectare Fuente Osmeña circle, but the absence of a title also doesn’t mean that the City Government does not own it, an official said.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said Capitol officials have already expressed their claim over the property, which the City is looking into.
A check with the General Services Office, City Hall’s property custodian, also did not yield any lot title or document proving the City’s ownership of the lot.
“The Province said they own it but I have not seen their title. We don’t have proof to show that we own it but it doesn’t mean that we don’t. For now, we have possession of it, meaning we are the one occupying and maintaining it,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
In his news conference the other day, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will not allow the Province to close the roads around Fuente Osmeña rotunda, or any move by the Province that will cause a major disruption of traffic there.
Fernandez said the City has several properties that have no titles or proof of ownership, and he has already asked the City Attorney’s Office to check on it.
“We have several properties that don’t have titles but we’ve asked the legal office to first focus on whether the Province can close the provincial roads in the city. After that, we’ll also study the lots that don’t have documents,” he added.
The conflict between the Capitol and City Hall is in relation to the lot swap proposal between the two local governments.
The City Government offered to exchange a 37,554-square-meter lot at the North Reclamation Area to save its constituents from eviction for occupying Province-owned lots in 11 barangays covering 536,986 square meters.
Capitol initially agreed to the deal but this was put on hold because of some statements issued by city councilors, which the Province viewed as offensive.
Lately, talks about the deal were revived but the Province proposed that it should be value for value.
The City’s property is said to be worth P415 million, while the Capitol claims that its lots are worth P3.2 billion.
Last week, the City Council passed a resolution to stop the P2-billion development project on a Province-owned lot in Banilad, citing traffic congestion as the reason.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has said the move “hurt her deeply.”
Aside from closing the old Larsian road, Garcia had also ordered the bulldozing of a paved road on a provincial lot in Banilad, which provides access to the Asiatown I.T. Park, and had it planted with bananas.
As of yesterday, there is no new notice to vacate or road closure orders issued as the governor is on an out of town trip.
However, the homeowner’s association of the residents in front of the Tesda office wrote to Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla to allow them to use the basketball court in their place until the Province will use the lot.
Martinquilla has written to Lahug barangay Captain Mary Ann Santos last Feb. 7 asking her to remove the basketball court.
