Thursday, May 31, 2007 Gwen resumes fight for Ciudad
AS both Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia continue heading their turfs for another term, their conflict over issues such as the construction of Ciudad also remains.
With the elections over, Garcia yesterday warned she is now ready to focus on taking “necessary steps” to protect the interest of the Province, both on the matter of pushing through with Ciudad and the recovery of Ordinance 93-1 lots from occupants.
“We are looking at all options, seeing that the option of waiting and patience seems to have already been exhausted,” said Garcia, referring to Ciudad’s permit that the Cebu City Government has yet to act on.
Garcia also yesterday ordered the special committee tasked to take care of the 93-1 issue to start talks with occupants, a matter that was also put on hold because of the elections.
Barangay captains may also do the negotiation with the committee in behalf of their constituents, she added.
No link
Earlier discussions on the matter speculated that Ciudad has been held hostage by the stalled negotiations between the City and Provincial Governments about the relocation of occupants who failed to pay for the Capitol lots they are occupying.
Garcia, however, stressed she does not consider these as related issues.
“I will state for the record that from the Provincial Government’s point of view, we are not connecting the two issues because from the logical and legal point of view, there is really no connection,” said Garcia.
The City has yet to decide on the traffic study that was done for Ciudad, a P1.2-billion multi-use facility that an international consortium wants to build on a Capitol-owned lot in Banilad.
The City Council declared a moratorium after the unsuccessful effort of the City to swap properties with the Capitol to save occupants from eviction.
Legal maneuver
Garcia met with Capitol lawyers yesterday to discuss their next move for Ciudad.
Though the governor did not give any categorical statement on their decision, it appeared that the Capitol is poised to take legal action “in the next few days.”
“We have given the City enough time to study, ruminate, meditate, evaluate and decide on Ciudad’s application…I am meeting my lawyers and whatever option I take, I don’t do it because I’m in a bad mood. I do it after I have thoroughly studied the entire situation… I don’t file cases when I’m in a bad mood. In fact, I am in a very good mood when I file cases because I have so much faith in our courts,” said Garcia.
Earlier, Mayor Osmeña said that Garcia may have been “in a bad mood” so she filed her case invoking her authority to appoint members of the Metro Cebu Water District’s board of directors.
The delay in the construction of Ciudad, stressed Garcia, will deprive the Province of “deserved revenues” because the Capitol’s agreement with the consortium is for the Province to start receiving rentals the moment construction starts. (JPM)
