Saturday, August 04, 2007
Centcom to vacate Lahug camp; 80-hectare prime land goes back to Province
THE Central Command (Centcom) headquarters will be transferred to Mactan Island, President Arroyo announced yesterday after she gave a check worth P25 million for the soldiers’ housing project.
President Arroyo, in an informal talk with reporters in Cebu, also said her decision will mean that the 80 hectares of land in Cebu City that the military is occupying will now revert to the Capitol.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has been moving to recover Capitol properties and mentioned the military camp as one area that the Capitol could earn from.
“The transfer was recommended by the chief of staff for communication purposes…and Mactan is very urban. I gave the instructions today,” President Arroyo said.
Although Mactan will host the new Centcom headquarters and the soldiers’ housing project, Arroyo said the other aspects of
the camp, such as the engineering brigade, will be in Tuburan, northern Cebu.
Tuburan is part of Cebu’s third district. The town has, for many years, been facing pockets of insurgency.
President Arroyo said the P25 million she handed yesterday to Centcom Chief Maj. Gen. Cardozo M. Luna was only the initial amount, as she intends to give P50 million for the soldiers’ housing.
The first tranche will motivate the military to start immediately the housing project, she added.
Arroyo further said that the agreement is for the Cebu Provincial Government to replicate all the existing facilities at the Central Command in its new headquarters, including an access road to a new camp in Tuburan.
For more than 10 years now, the Capitol has tried to recover properties donated to the military but are not being used for military purposes.
Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district), the governor’s brother, said there were no specific details discussed as of yesterday on the matter, including the exact location of the new headquarters.
“We wanted it transferred to Balamban, but they wanted Mactan. I think it will be near the air base, we’re assuming that they have property there,” said Pablo John.
Once the transfer is completed, the 80-hectare property in Cebu City will “automatically revert” to the Capitol, he added.
In 2002, the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) revoked the Capitol’s donation of the 80 hectares the Centcom is occupying in Lahug, Cebu City. The move followed eight years of warnings and notices that failed to settle an ownership dispute.
Capitol officials found in 1994 yet that Centcom was not using 59 of the 80 hectares donated in 1959. A provision in the donation by then governor Jose Briones provides that all unused lots would revert to the Province.
Housing
As for the soldiers’ housing, Centcom Chief Luna received the check at 12:15 p.m. at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
In attendance were Presidential Management Staff Director General Cerge Remonde and Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7.
Luna said that the 90 families of soldiers affected by the demolition in Barangay Apas will be prioritized, although there is still no definite area for the project site.
Last Feb. 26, 40 of the 90 families lost their homes when the apartments built by the AFP for them were demolished by a private lot owner, Vicente G. Lim.
Technical Sgt. Ponciano Mateo, one of those affected, said that most of them were displaced.
Lim had filed a case in court against the AFP to recover Lot 932, covering 25,137 square meters in Barangay Apas, Cebu City. Lim won the case, a decision the Supreme Court confirmed on June 29, 2005.
After the turnover of the check, President Arroyo proceeded to a closed-door meeting with Cebuano politicians including Governor Garcia, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez Jr., Danao City Mayor Ramon Durano and Reps. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north), Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south), Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district), Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) and Red Durano (Cebu, 5th district). (JPM/With EOB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 4, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
