Sunday, August 26, 2007 Garcias to block charter amendment
CEBU Rep. Pablo John Garcia (3rd district) and his father, Rep. Pablo Garcia (2nd district), will block Rep. Raul del Mar’s proposed MCIAA Charter amendment that will strip the Cebu governor of authority to sit at the board and recommend four members.
“It was Del Mar who crafted that provision (on the governor’s authority) upon the request of his cousin, (former governor) Lito Osmeña. Now that we have a different governor he wants to change it? Should our legislative work be dependent on who is there, and change depending on the personalities, rather than policy?” said Pablo John.
For him, being a host city does not necessarily put Lapu-Lapu in a better position than the governor of the province.
“In fact, there may be a conflict of interest. Are we forgetting that, if not for the governor, Lapu-Lapu would have already sold at an auction the airport, for alleged delinquent real property taxes?” Pablo John said.
On Dec. 10, 2003, Lapu-Lapu auctioned off 27 airport properties, including the terminal building and runway, saying that the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) failed to pay P229.58 million in real property taxes.
The issue evolved into a full-blown legal battle. In July 2006, the Supreme Court declared that airport lands and buildings owned by the Mactan International Airport are exempted from real property tax, which the MCIAA used to boost its position.
Del Mar, for his part, filed last month a bill to amend the MCIAA Charter, but he announced recently that he will file another one to accommodate a concern from Lapu-Lapu City.
Lapu-Lapu City officials are pushing not only for a seat at the MCIAA board, being the host city of the airport.
They are also moving to take from Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia the authority to recommend four MCIAA board members from the private sector.
Del Mar agreed with the Lapu-Lapu City officials, but Pablo John said they will ask their friends from the Senate to help them oppose the move.
Pablo John represents Cebu’s second district to the House of Representatives, while his father is representative of Cebu’s third district. Del Mar, meanwhile, is from Cebu City’s north district.
“That facility is being used by the entire province of Cebu, so the governor should be there. We don’t object to Lapu-Lapu being there, but you can’t take out the representative of more than three million users of that facility,” said Pablo John, youngest brother of Governor Garcia. (JPM)
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