Monday, May 01, 2006
Cebu mayor taunts opposition in awarding plum areas
By Rene H. Martel
CEBU CITY -- Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann delos Santos howled political harassment after Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced he will award "plum areas" to barangays that have boundaries disputes with Lahug.
Several barangays in Cebu are at odds with each other because of contending claims over areas where several establishments are located.
It is because each receives a portion of the real property taxes the establishments pay to City Hall.
Aside from the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, the mayor said, he will also give the old Lahug airport, now the site of the Asiatown IT Park, to Barangay Apas.
The area where the Waterfront Hotel and Casino and the Grand Convention Center stand will allegedly be awarded to Barangay Luz.
The mayor will give the area where Park Lane Hotel is located to Barangay Camputhaw, which, in a September 25, 2005 resolution, claimed the hotel is within its territory.
Taunt
Osmeña, in a radio interview Sunday, confirmed these, even taunting he will let Lahug claim jurisdiction over JY Square mall, but not the areas it is contesting with its neighbors.
"He cannot do that. If I am allied with him, would he do that? The way I see it, it is political harassment," delos Santos told Sun.Star Cebu.
Lahug has tangled over Barangays Apas, Busay, Kalunasan, and Camputhaw over boundary disagreements.
Osmeña alleged that delos Santos claimed as hers projects his brother, Senator Sergio Osmeña III, gives to Lahug.
But delos Santos maintained the issue is political and is best decided by the residents themselves.
"The people have to be involved. This cannot just be decided by one person only (or) on mere caprices of the mayor," she said.
Tax mapping
Delos Santos said that while Lahug has the 1965 Cebu City map, Apas is anchoring its claim over Nivel Hills merely on a map issued by then City assessor Palermo Lugo in 2000.
She said Lugo favored Apas since he was a resident and that his wife ran for the City Council that time.
Busay Barangay Captain Eliodoro Sanchez, at the height of Busay's conflict with Apas three years ago, also belittled the tax map, saying Apas should not rely on it because it was for tax mapping purposes only and did not, in any way, settle the boundary disputes between Busay, Apas and Lahug.
Delos Santos promised her barangay will fight, even if it means involving the courts, just to protect Lahug's territory.
Lahug's quarrel with Apas over boundary demarcations was revived recently with the opening of Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Nivel Hills.
The Marco Polo, formerly the Cebu Plaza hotel, had its grand opening last Thursday.
Cebu City officials and both Delos Santos and Apas Barangay Captain Clemente Rosales attended the affair.
Domain
Rosales, in an interview last Saturday, said the mayor assured him Marco Polo will be placed under his barangay's jurisdiction.
According to the Cebu City Government's website (www.cebucity.gov.ph), Lahug's territory goes beyond Salinas Drive but up to the gate of Central Command, and follows a straight line down to the corner of Archbishop Reyes Ave.
That means the old Lahug airport, the Waterfront Hotel and Casino, and Grand Convention Center are still part of Lahug's area.
Lahug can also claim the Marco Polo Plaza is under its jurisdiction because Nivel Hills is still part of its domain.
Busay is claiming a portion of Nivel Hills from the corner of the road leading to the Holy Family Retreat House. Apas, too, is claiming Nivel Hills.
And though Camputhaw covets Park Lane, the Cebu City website map shows the hotel is on the side of J. Solon Street that belongs to Lahug.
Notes posted on the website, however, state that each of the barangay maps, which the City's Geographic Information System Center prepared, is "subject for validation."
Delos Santos also told Sun.Star Cebu her barangay is basing its claim on a 1965 City map that remained unchanged by both local and national legislations.
Once they reached the City Council, all boundary conflicts were referred by the Cebu City Council to the City planning office, which has yet to give its recommendations.
The Local Government Code states that the City Council has 60 days from the date the matter is referred to the body to resolve the dispute.
If it cannot do so, it should send a certification to the concerned parties to that effect. After which, it has 60 more days to hear and settle the conflict.
The City Council has yet to decide on at least one of the boundary disputes involving Lahug, despite queries raised over its inaction. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(May 1, 2006 issue)
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