Thursday, November 06, 2008
City Council approves P68M SB3
By Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Cebu City Council yesterday approved the P69.18-million supplemental budget (SB) 3, which includes a P15-million payment for the property of the Palictes that the executive department proposed.
The budget, P68.382 million of which is for the general fund, was also approved to cover the full implementation of the “salary adjustment of 10 percent authorized in the second semester (of) 2007.”
The budget includes P15 million that will be paid “to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp, or PDIC, to remove the lien it has on the (CitiCenter Commercial Complex) property” in Barangay Kamagayan.
City Hall gained ownership of the property last year after its owners failed to settle their tax obligations.
The property covers 7,281 square meters of land and two buildings, with a total area of 4,884 square meters.
Built in 1983, the Citicenter has become a home to, among others, squatters and suspects of theft, commercial sex and the illegal drugs trade since its closure.
City Hall plans to clear the complex to improve peace and order in the area and to increase the marketability of the property.
On the Palicte property, the court has ordered in the middle of this year the garnishment of City accounts in the bank as payment for the heirs of Matilde Palicte.
The City was ordered to pay the Palictes P20,589, 409.50, representing the unpaid purchase price of the expropriated property, interests and legal fees.
It already made a partial payment of P725,881 on May 8, 2002 and close to P9 million the next year, leaving a total unpaid balance of P14,093,335.
But interests, computed starting Dec. 4, 2001, already total P6,214,208 as of June this year.
The City is asking the Palicte heirs to waive the P6.2 million accumulated interest that they are demanding and said it will immediately pay the P14-million balance.
The Palictes, on the other hand, want Cebu City to pay the principal balance of more than P14 million in full with the interest payable in two years.
The City expropriated the lot in Sitio Ipil-ipil, Barangay Capitol-Site, Cebu City as on-site relocation for 170 families, who are socialized housing beneficiaries.
City Councilor Jose Daluz III said that SB 3 also includes the amount of P738,000 as professional fees of the Cebu City Dancesport Team members, P2.4 million for Fort San Pedro operation, and P14 million for the construction and renovation of the Community Scouts building.
The P68.382-million allocation for the general fund also includes a P30.963-million subsidy to the special accounts.
The executive department identified as sources of funds the unappropriated balance of P66 million from the 2008 annual budget, and P2.4 million receipts from Fort San Pedro Operations.
With the City Market Office and the City Abattoir sourcing P800,707.72 from their own revenue, special accounts expenses total P3.996 million.
The special accounts cover the allocations for the City Traffic Operations Management; Cremdec; City-run hospitals, which include the Cebu City Medical Center; the City Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor; and the City Transport.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 6, 2008 issue)
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