Saturday, December 06, 2008 Cebu City asks Capitol to bid on another lot
AFTER the bidding for the joint venture, Cebu City Hall will bid out another 10 hectares of the South Road Properties (SRP) worth P900 million for outright sale.
City Hall, an official said, will welcome the Provincial Government’s participation in the bidding.
The Cebu Investment and Promotion Center (CIPC), the marketing arm of the SRP, is finalizing negotiations with Rock-wealth Development Corp., a joint venture between Pueblo de Oro Development and a shipping company, for the sale of 10 hectares of land at the SRP.
CIPC Managing Director Joel Mari Yu said he is meeting with officials of Pueblo de Oro Development’s depository banks to discuss the terms and conditions of the sale.
“There is a 10-hectare lot for sale and there will be an open bidding for a straight sale, not a lease agreement or joint venture. Everyone can participate and bid, even the Provincial Government. We’re going to bid it out simply because there’s one interested buyer. It will be better if there are two or even three,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
In an interview yesterday, Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez also invited the Provincial Government to participate in the bidding for the 10-hectare lot if it will not qualify to challenge Filinvest Land Inc.’s (FLI) unsolicited proposal for a joint venture to develop a 50.6-hectare area.
Fernandez said that in selecting qualified challengers, City Hall is only following City Ordinance 2154, or the “ordinance prescribing guidelines and procedures for entering into joint venture agreements with private entities.”
The ordinance, he said, was patterned after the National Economic and Development Authority’s (Neda) guidelines for joint ventures with government-owned and controlled corporations, and it was not manipulated to shut out Capitol from the bidding on FLI’s proposal.
‘Sayang’
“Sayang ug dili na sila (Province) but if you look at it, we’re just following the joint venture ordinance patterned after that of Neda. We have nothing to do with the guidelines, it’s not like we manipulated it to exclude Capitol,” Fernandez told Sun.Star Cebu.
He also pointed out that the ordinance was drafted and approved even before Capitol announced its plan to challenge the offer of FLI.
“On the other hand, we are also happy because we don’t have to resolve that question on whether local governments are allowed to participate and if the Province has the technical, financial and legal requirements to participate in a joint venture project. We have no choice on the technical and substantial financial requirements, it’s only natural because this is a big project,” Fernandez added.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama earlier announced Rockwealth Ventures and Development’s intent to buy the property, which they plan to develop into a medical tourism facility.
Proceeds of the sale will help the City raise funds for SRP loan payments next year, and cope with any effect the financial crisis will have on the City’s foreign loans, Rama said.
The City pays P350 million every February and August for its yen loan package for the SRP, which has reached P5 billion as of this month.
Aside from the Pueblo de Oro offer, City Hall is also working out the purchase of 5,000 square meters by the National Power Corp.
They will also donate a five-hectare portion to the University of the Philippines for its graduate school program. (LCR)
