Malilong: Not so fast

THE news reports on the signing of the compromise agreement between the Province and the City of Cebu that seeks to put an end to a court case involving the two local government units, among others, say one and the same thing: it will not be long before residents of Province-owned lots that were originally intended for use as a military camp will soon own the lots on which their houses are built.

I do not mean to be a spoilsport but I am afraid that it is not going to be as simple. Note that the parcels of land that have been promised to be sold to the Apas informal settlers were part of a bigger property, consisting of 47 lots, that was donated by the Province to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in 1959 for “military purposes.”

In other words, title has passed to the AFP and while the Province claims that ownership has automatically reverted to them because of non-use or abandonment of the portions occupied by the informal settlers, that issue has remained unresolved until now despite the memorandum of understanding between the Province and the AFP turning over the subject properties to the Province. This is because the City and the settlers have filed a case in court to annul the proclamation.

Thus, any settlement or agreement involving the disposition of the property has to be with the concurrence of the AFP. Absent that, the occupants’ tenure will be subject to a cloud of doubt.

House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who came here to witness the signing of the agreement, said she is hopeful that the Department of National Defense and its lawyer, the Solicitor General will sign it. I hope that she has judged the situation correctly. I also hope that politics will not creep into the picture and derail the agreement or at least cause its deferment until after the May 2019 elections.

Let’s face it, the compromise has political significance, whether intended or not. Some 4,000 families stand to benefit from the deal and, at a minimum of four adult members per family, that means 16,000 votes ready for the taking.

I do not expect Vice Mayor Edgar Labella to sabotage the agreement; he is too much of a gentleman to do that. But there are other political forces working in Cebu that are capable of ruining the deal before everything is put to paper by pressuring the SolGen and the AFP from agreeing to the settlement.

I will not be surprised if they feel having been blindsided in the negotiations that led to the agreement. The parties managed to keep everything under wraps until the governor, the mayor and Arroyo, who made a lightning trip to Cebu for the purpose, inked the dotted line.

Actually, the compromise did not develop overnight. In September, Cebu City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez already issued an opinion that “there is no legal impediment” for the City to sign the agreement.

About that same time, the Province submitted a draft agreement to the court (Cebu RTC Branch 58). Presiding Judge Ma. Lynna P. Adviento, however, deferred action on the draft because the Department of National Defense was not present during the hearing, which she reset to Oct. 11.

Sunday, the draft became a signed agreement.