KEY POINTS [1] The Cebu City Council Wednesday, January 26, scheduled a meeting next Wednesday, February 2, with the mayor and officials of Megawide for a briefing on the Sanggunian-approved MOA that was supposed to "cure defects" of the Carbon project.
[2] At the same time, the Sanggunian approved a resolution "requesting" joint venture Carbon Market developer Megawide Construction Corporation/ Cebu2World Development Project Inc. to suspend construction of the project until the parties will have corrected the defects. A repeated request, also made in 2021 by the City Council.
[3] Both parties presumably know that the JVA is a perfected contract and any change must be conceded by Megawide or ordered by the court in a legal action.
WHAT BRINGS NEW FUROR. The opposition BOPK, rival of the ruling party Barug in the next elections, has instigated, or lent force to, a vendors protest against the manner of implementing the city's Carbon Market P5.5-billion modernization project.
That, after (a) the Cebu Regional Trial Court last January 8 rejected a petition for TRO or temporary restraining order sought to stop the works of Megawide Construction Corporation/Cebu2World Development on Carbon Market, and since (b) the councilors realized they are in the dark about the progress on the "curative" memorandum of agreement the City Council adopted last September 1, 2021 for the city mayor to re-negotiate with the developer.
Last November 10, then acting mayor Rama reported to the Sanggunian that talks were "going on" with Megawide.
Judge Soliver Peras, in his ruling, said complainants Carbon Alliance, a multi-sectoral group with several names listed under it, failed to "substantiate" in their August 25, 2021 lawsuit their cause of action and to prove a "grave and irreparable injury" that needed to be prevented. But even with the TRO denied, their main action to take down the JVA remains.
Would Megawide agree to the Sanggunian request, contained in that September 1 City Council resolution for a "curative" MOA? Whether the developer would agree or refuse, the councilors want to know from the developer, citing the current unrest at Carbon Market.
POLITICAL CAUSE. BOPK has embraced the cause of the vendors who were displaced by the demolition of the three units of the old Carbon buildings and the structure at Freedom Park and Warwick Baracks. The Tomas Osmeña-led party announced, obviously as part of its campaign for votes, that it will fully support, if it wins the election, the lawsuits for rescission of the JVA or joint venture agreement signed by then mayor Edgardo Labella with Megawide.
Last Tuesday, January 25, BOPK publicly supported the protest by a group that calls itself Movement Against Carbon Market Privatization. The demand: press Mayor Michael Rama to deliver his promise for the supplemental MOA that the councilors think must correct defects of the JVA.
MEETING WITH MEGAWIDE. The BOPK offensive was pursued Wednesday, January 26, during the Cebu City Council's regular session, where BOPK councilors succeeded in prodding the Sanggunian to invite Megawide officials and Mayor Mike Rama and other persons in the project to talk with the local legislature. The meeting is set for next Wednesday, February 2, in the morning before its regular session in the afternoon.
Minority Floorleader Nestor Archival Sr. and Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. pushed approval of the move. Taking a longer discussion was Gabuya's motion to "request" Megawide to "hold in abeyance" construction work until the parties will have agreed on the "curative action" on what the councilors call a defective contract.
MAYOR MIKE IN DIFFERENT SHOES. When Mayor Rama sits with Megawide officials to "renegotiate" over the JVA, he won't be wearing, figuratively, the same shoes he had when on September 1 last year, he forged the proposed corrective MOA.
Rama was the vice mayor then, who stepped down from the rostrum as presiding officer and became an ordinary member proposing and pushing the corrective MOA. He was its architect, whom the protesting BOPK-backed vendors dunned on his resolution.
Would Mayor Mike modify his stance, given his being the chief executive now, not the legislator who crafted the proposed "curative" MOA?
DEVELOPER HAS UPPERHAND. With a perfected contract, developer Megawide may choose whether to agree to a renegotiation and how much or little to concede. But it must weigh possible consequences: possible delay, even a long, disruptive litigation, if a new administration takes over this June 30 and makes things tougher than they are now.
(In June 7, 2021 Explainer: "Megawide says Carbon Market deal has no defects, sees big economic benefits for Cebu City. Still, MW 'to keep line open' to City Council and public.")
The councilors may have to be reminded on the Sanggunian's weak bargaining power. They cannot act brusquely to solve a problem they themselves created by approving without reading the 100-page-plus JVA. Last Wednesday, Councilor Gabuya admitted again that it is "all our fault" for approving the contract without first reading or understanding its basic terms.
'NOT SO SIMPLE.' Majority Floorleader Raymond Alvin Garcia advised his colleagues "just to wait" until after they will have heard the mayor and the other Sanggunian invitees. Perhaps, he said, some of their suggestions have already been heeded by Megawide. One concession earlier announced by Mayor Rama was the return of Freedom Park, although he didn't say if the actual forum for gatherings would be restored or just the name inscribed on some marker.
Councilor Augustus Joy Young (BOPK) said suspending works on the project by the developer would cost money and displace workers as Megawide has already contracted for them. Thus, he said, without taking a side on the issue, it would not be as simple as some councilors would think. Even Councilor Archival didn't think Megawide would stop the works but it seemed he just wanted to see how the developer would respond to a new City Council request.