Saturday, June 23, 2007 ‘Give up land’ By Linette C. Ramos & Minerva G. Gerodias Sun.Star Staff Reporters
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña does not mind if he will appear vindictive, but he will ask the Capitol to turn over one-half to three fourths of the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) to the City Government within 15 days.
City officials said that one-half to three-fourths of the lot where the terminal stands belongs to the City and only one-fourth to one-half is owned by the Province.
“Ayay, sayop na pud. (Wrong again.) Let the facts speak for themselves,” Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday in response to the city mayor’s claim.
Capitol officials showed documents to prove that the City Government only owns some 1,107 square meters of the 9,100-square meter Cebu South Bus Terminal.
They said the City’s property is the area on the terminal’s left side, occupied by some stalls.
But during his news conference yesterday, Osmeña asked City Planning Officer Nigel Paul Villarete to prepare the letter asking the Capitol to turn over the property to the City.
The letter will be sent next week.
Half?
“The City owns half of the bus terminal and that would be subject to recall. I’m just getting the idea from the governor… They want to recover this, they want to recover that,” he told reporters yesterday.
“Prepare the letter asking them to vacate within 15 days, the same amount of courtesy they extended to us. We also have to assert our rights,” the mayor told Villarete.
Osmeña said he does not care if he is perceived to be vindictive, as he is only protecting the interests of his constituent, and that his decision is not his way of threatening the Province.
“Threat? No, it’s just a notice to vacate… Why, is this hostility? I don’t think so, we’re just taking the cue from them,” he said.
He stressed, though, that he is always open to discussions.
Since half of the lot where the City Traffic Operations Management’s (Citom) office is also owned by the Province, Osmeña proposed to transfer the traffic body’s office to the terminal, and Capitol can also transfer half of the terminal to the Citom office, he said.
Self-interest
He said it’s up to Capitol to find another site for the terminal.
And what of the relocation and the inconvenience it could bring to commuters from the southern towns?
“That’s their (the Province’s) problem, that’s not the problem of the City. Why, did they care about the occupants of 93-1 lots? They set the tone… So now my policy is that I will only care about what happens to the residents of the city. What benefits our residents, that’s the position I’m inclined to take,” said Osmeña.
As a possible solution to the traffic congestion along N. Bacalso Ave., Citom recommended the transfer of the bus terminal from its present location.
While waiting for the results of Citom’s traffic study in the area, the mayor proposed an immediate alternative solution: to close the center island along N. Bacalso to keep the buses from making a U-turn or left turn from the terminal.
He suggested that from the terminal, the buses can pass through the South Coastal Road via P. del Rosario St., Sikatuna St. or D. Jakosalem St., or they can go all the way to Danao City and exit in Tuburan town in going south.
No hurry
Osmeña said, though, that he is not in a hurry to reach a decision.
In a separate interview yesterday, Villarete said he is not sure about the exact size of the portion of lot that belongs to the City.
He estimates it to be around three-fourths of the more than 9,000-square-meter property, and is supported by documents that are now with the Citom.
Osmeña and Villarete, however, did not present the documents to the media yesterday.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez explained in a separate interview that during the term of former governor Lito Osmeña, he and the mayor agreed to swap properties, that is why the City and the Province own portions of lots in the terminal and the Citom compound.
“I know for sure that the City swapped its portion of the terminal with a portion of the lot where the Citom is. There was certainly an agreement on that but whether there was a land swap document, I’m not too sure,” he said.
Titles
“I am also sure that the titles have not been transferred yet. The title of the Citom lot is still with the Province and the title of the City-owned portion of the terminal is still with the City,” Fernandez added.
Capitol officials, however, showed the documents and are sure of their claim.
Garcia said that if the City wants to get back its portion of the terminal, then she will relocate the stalls to the area now occupied by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Citom.
“Because my heart goes out to his children whose businesses and livelihood will be cruelly affected by this tug-of-war,” Garcia said.
Based on documents from the Capitol, Citom occupies 566 square meters of the Capitol-owned lot, while the LTO sits on 1,200 square meters.
Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla said that when the terminal was constructed in 1991, there was an agreement between then governor Lito Osmeña and Mayor Tomas Osmeña to use the City-owned lot.
Traffic links
Citom and LTO were already occupying the Province’s property.
Martinquilla said there was a draft of the agreement to exchange the properties but it was not signed.
As to the traffic issue, Capitol consultant Byron Garcia conducted an ocular inspection along N. Bacalso Ave. yesterday morning and concluded that it is the One Citilink Terminal and not the South Bus Terminal that is causing traffic in the area.
Byron said the Citilink Terminal has two entrances and two exits and that’s the source of congestion.
Also, jeepneys from the Citilink Terminal are coming out every minute, unlike in the South Bus Terminal where buses come out in 30-minute intervals.
“Kung pasirad-an nila ang South Bus Terminal, sirad-an pud ang Citilink. Buta ang Citom kon di makakita sa traffic kay ganiha ra gani ko niagi, nakakita ko,” Byron said. (If they want to close the South Bus Terminal, they must also close Citilink. Citom would have to be blind not to see what’s wrong.) (LCR/MBG)
