Friday, June 06, 2008 Carillo says Adarnas seemed to have misled City Hall on property donation By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
DISAPPOINTED with the Adarnas for ofering to donate a road that allegedly belongs to another family, Cebu City Hall will pursue the filing of a case against them and collect P5 million in damages.
Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the Adarnas seemed to have misled city officials that they can donate a portion of their property.
But yesterday, three lots owners in Sitio Luton in Barangay Mabini sought the help of Mayor Tomas Osmeña in stopping the donation of the property and the rehabilitation of the road by the Adarnas.
Lot owner Leonila Estores said motel chain proprietor Teodorico Adarna Sr. claimed ownership of her 36-hectare property. Rosalia Ouano, meanwhile, said the Adarnas also claimed around four hectares of her eight-hectare lot.
Documents
“We have more reason to file a case now because they developed a road that does not belong to them. They offered to donate it to the City and it turns out they do not own the lot yet because they are still paying for it, and there’s an ongoing case. Binuang man ni. (This is foolishness),” Carillo told reporters yesterday.
The councilor advised the claimants to submit to the City Attorney’s Office documents that would support their claim.
“Now that they all came forward, we can strength-en our case against the Adarnas. We did not know about all these things before. Pabayron na gyud nato ni si Mr. Adarna (We will make him pay),” Carillo continued.
Teodorico Adarna Jr. earlier assured Osmeña and Carillo that their family is willing to donate a portion of their property to be used as road right of way in Sitio Luton and to rehabilitate the damaged roads there.
Landslide
City officials agreed to drop their plan to sue the Adarnas for developing their property without a building and development permit. The development caused a landslide in Mabini.
They also agreed to drop the collection of P4 to P5 million for the damage the development caused, on the condition that the Adarnas will formalize their donation.
But after hearing the sentiments of the claimants and learning about the cases on the ownership of the lot, Carillo said the donation might not be possible.
Ouano, Estores and businessman Roy Seno said they are all willing to donate a portion of their properties in Luton, provided that the City Government, and not the Adarnas, rehabilitate the road.
“We don’t want the Adarnas to do the rehabilitation works because they will just bulldoze inside the properties that they claim but don’t belong to them. It will be fair to all the lot owners if the City undertakes the road repair. We’re all willing to donate the road. If the Adarnas also donate, they should donate only what they own,” Seno said.
Road repairs
In his news conference yesterday, Osmeña said the City can do the road repairs on its own, but he will wait until the lot owners donate their properties.
For his part, the younger Adarna said his family will just face the claimants in court. He pointed out, though, that unlike the three other claimants, they have land titles to prove ownership of their 38-hectare mango farm.
“We did everything to negotiate with the City and reach a settlement but since it seems that it’s not working out, maybe we will just see everybody in court,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
