LOT 937 in Barangay Apas, Cebu City is not owned by the Provincial Government.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia issued this clarification on Thursday, November 3, 2022.
“Wa mi labot ana. Di na apil sa Camp Lapu-Lapu... Dili ni (Lot 937) apil sa 16 lots nga na turnover,” she said.
(The Province has nothing to do with that. It’s not part of Camp Lapu-Lapu... It’s not included in the 16 lots that were turned over to the Province.)
Garcia said the Capitol owns the 80-hectare property occupied by Camp Lapu-Lapu and the headquarters of the Visayas Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
On Thursday, structures on Lot 937 were demolished after a 10-year legal battle.
Meanwhile, the governor said she will honor the deal entered by the previous administration and the Cebu City Government that set aside at least 8,000 square meters of the Provincial Government’s property in the area for affected residents of Lot 937.
“So I look at the agreement and I said: ‘Well, we will honor this agreement. However, since the Province was not there when the resettlement site was identified, I propose we conduct another survey to identify it... What I want is to put them in areas that are already populated so they won’t be spread out. There are areas in the 16 lots that were returned to the Province that are not occupied. And we would wish to set that aside so as not to hamper development there. We will put them as close as possible to existing houses so they can be grouped together. That way we will have some zoning,” Garcia said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
She also hit back at people who continue to spread unverified claims that the Capitol is selling land to large and private corporations and businesses.
According to her, since she returned as governor, the Capitol has been trying to recover its properties and having these reappraised.
“It’s like they’re accusing me of selling when everybody knows I don’t sell. Since when did I sell Capitol properties? I don’t even donate, I recover properties,” she said in Cebuano.(ANV)