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Sunday, August 05, 2007
Capitol rules out donation, sale of military camp in Cebu City
CEBU CITY -- With 81 hectares of prime property given back by the military, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia sees an opportunity for the Capitol to earn more, with the private sector as partner.
Although no specific plan for the property has been drawn yet, Garcia said Saturday she will stick to her policy not to sell or donate, just “develop and earn more.”
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
“Trust the Provincial Government to know what to do. Watch me,” she said when asked if private investors would still be willing to deal with the Capitol, considering its soured relations with the Cebu City Government and the stalled P1.2-billion Ciudad project.
President Arroyo last Friday gave instructions for the Central Command (Centcom) to start moving out of Cebu City and to return to the Capitol the entire property it is using in Barangay Apas.
A hitch in the Capitol’s years-long move to recover the camp property would have been the presidential proclamation naming a portion of the camp as a site for socialized housing.
Sign, she says
But Garcia, in an interview with Sun.Star Saturday, said this was already settled.
She said her office has been in “constant talks” with Vice President Noli de Castro, who heads the country’s housing program.
She said de Castro already agreed that all 400 beneficiaries in the socialized housing program within the Central Command would be transferred to another Capitol property.
But she refused to say where the beneficiaries would be relocated.
What is needed now is for all concerned parties to formalize the agreements by signing the documents, the governor said.
She also narrated that while waiting for President Arroyo at the airport’s Most Important Persons Lounge last Friday, she inquired with Centcom Commander Cardozo Luna on the report she received that the military has started building soldiers’ houses inside the camp.
She asked Luna why when everyone knew that there were negotiations for the Capitol to recover the property.
Luna, the governor said, told her that he will raise the matter before the President, as they were to make a presentation about the insurgency situation in Cebu before Arroyo and local officials.
Development works that the military recently made inside the camp likewise caught the attention of the Provincial Board, which passed last Monday a resolution inquiring about the matter.
Provincial Board Member Victor Maambong wanted to know the military’s legal basis or authority in demolishing the Kamagong Gun Club inside the camp, when the gun club had an existing agreement with the Capitol.
There were reports that the gun club was demolished to pave the way for soldiers’ houses.
In her visit last Friday, however, President Arroyo ordered to have the soldiers’ housing project in Mactan Island.
She gave Luna P25 million, which was part of the P50-million budget for the project.
Garcia, though, said only the administration building and the soldiers’ houses will be in the military’s property in Mactan.
All other aspects of the camp will be in Tuburan town, where five barangays are affected by the insurgency problem.
The decision to transfer the camp in Tuburan was made after the briefing with Arroyo on Cebu’s insurgency situation, which also affects three barangays in Aloguinsan town.
During the briefing, Luna informed Arroyo that they need an access road to the 400-hectare military reservation area in Tuburan.
Garcia said she promised during the gathering that the Capitol will build the needed roads “aron di na malangay (so as not to delay the camp’s transfer).”
She added that Arroyo’s instructions for DPWH to pave the 26-kilometer Asturias-Tuburan road and the 16-kilometer Aloguinsan road also stemmed from the briefing.
“This is an all-out war against insurgency without anyone being killed. We address the problem with smart strategies,” said Garcia, who also heads the Central Visayas Regional Peace and Order Council.
She said that transferring the camp to Tuburan and improving the national roads will have “great positive impact” in the government’s drive to stamp out what remains of the insurgency in Cebu. (JPM of Sun.Star Cebu)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (August 5, 2007 issue)
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