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Monday, February 26, 2007
Capitol freezes eviction orders
CEBU CITY -- A Capitol official on Sunday accused Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña of "blackmailing the church" by discussing the possibility of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vetoing a new bill -- one that will confirm the validity of titles held by those occupying the Banilad friar lands.
Consultant Pablo John Garcia asked why Osmeña and Representative Raul del Mar, who authored the bill, even raised the issue during a meeting with Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal last Saturday afternoon.
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"This is a desperate move on their part. Not contented with blackmailing the Province, now they are blackmailing the church," said Pablo John.
Del Mar, however, clarified that while the Banilad friar lands bill was indeed brought up, "our main objective in that meeting was to ask the cardinal to help find solutions to help the poor occupants" of Capitol-owned lots in the city.
"The mayor is not blackmailing anyone. It's unthinkable to blackmail such a holy man," del Mar added in a phone interview Sunday night.
A meeting has reportedly been arranged Monday between Cardinal Vidal and President Arroyo, who is visiting Cebu for a call center event and a thanksgiving reception for local organizers of last month's Asean summit.
Intended beneficiaries have been trying to get President Arroyo's intervention in a lot exchange proposal between the Cebu City and Provincial Governments, but have so far failed.
Good faith
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has dropped the lot swap proposal, in favor of negotiating directly with occupants of Capitol-owned lots.
In the meantime, the Capitol announced Sunday it will suspend the eviction of occupants on its lots covered by Ordinance 93-1, to create an "atmosphere of good faith" while the Province negotiates with 2,725 affected families.
The moratorium freezes indefinitely the notices of eviction sent to the occupants who failed to pay for their lots before the September 2004 deadline.
Capitol officials said they wanted to negotiate with the occupants in an atmosphere "without suspicion, fear or speculations."
So why has the Banilad friar lands bill, which is just awaiting President Arroyo's signature to become a law, been dragged into the picture?
Another source who was at the meeting confirmed that the Banilad friar lands bill was indeed discussed, but that it did not take up much of their time.
The Senate approved last week a bill that validates the existing transfer certificates of tile over some 1,900 hectares in Cebu City's north district. President Arroyo certified the bill as urgent.
Who benefits?
Del Mar, who represents this district, first filed this as House Bill 4400 in 2005. A Supreme Court (SC) ruling prompted the congressman's move.
In 2004, the SC declared the National Government as the owner of Lot 727, a parcel within the Banilad friar lands presently occupied by the Cebu Country Club. The SC said that the club had failed to convince the court how they acquired the title from the government. A rival claim from the family of Tomas Alonso was also dismissed. (The club has contested the ruling.)
When del Mar filed his bill, the Office of the Solicitor-General suspended all legal actions against lot owners within the Banilad friar estate, until the bill was finalized.
Among the bills' beneficiaries will be the Provincial Government and the Archdiocese of Cebu.
At least 45 titles to be validated by the bill are held by the Capitol and reportedly cover properties that would have been part of the lot swap. (Under the original proposal, the Capitol would hand over to the City 53 hectares, spread across 11 barangays. In return, it would get from the City 3.6 hectares of commercial property in the North Reclamation Area. Capitol later amended the proposal to an exchange of properties of similar value.)
Veto unlikely
"The mayor's position was that before she signs the bill into law, President Arroyo should be informed about these 45 lots," del Mar told Sun.Star Cebu.
Also covered by the Banilad friar lands bill are some properties the Capitol has been planning to recover from the national government agencies that occupy them. These agencies include the Technical Education, Skills and Development Authority, the Population Commission and the National Food Authority.
Del Mar said that the mayor was of the opinion that President Arroyo, before she signs the bill, "needs to be fully aware" of the situation.
Del Mar added, however, that it would be "highly unlikely" for President Arroyo to veto a bill she had certified as urgent.
Del Mar, Osmeña and Luz Barangay Councilor Nida Cabrera met with Cardinal Vidal at 1:30 p.m. last Saturday, supposedly on the botched land swap deal.
A few hours later, Governor Garcia was invited to the Archbishop's Palace, where she informed Cardinal Vidal there is no need for her to meet with Osmeña because she already decided to drop the proposed lot exchange.
Stranger
Before joining Osmeña in the visit to the cardinal Saturday afternoon, del Mar also visited Garcia last Friday to request that he be present when Garcia talks to the occupants.
Since the governor already announced that the residents will be taken care of, Capitol officials see Osmeña's asking Cardinal Vidal to call for a meeting on the lot swap as "giving credence to all speculations that they are not in this for the sake of the occupants."
"I see their actions as getting stranger and stranger," said the governor.
On speculations that it is the Capitol that would want to sell the lots to Ayala, an allegation earlier raised against the Cebu City mayor, Governor Garcia said, "If ever that happens" she will "not be covert about it."
"I will not stoop to the level to which they have dug themselves," she said.
As for the occupants, Garcia aired Sunday a call for them to deal directly with the Capitol, "which is the property owner, and not rely on speculators and brokers."
She also welcomed the occupants' plan to visit the towns, where they plan to inform people about their plight. "It's good they will see the beauty of our towns. Limpyo ug dili huot pareha sa ilang nahimutangan ron. Basin ganahan na sila mubalhin didto (These are clean and orderly, unlike their present neighborhoods. Perhaps they might even want to move to the towns)." (JPM/RHM/IDA of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (February 26, 2007 issue)
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