MONTHS after the court affirmed the Cebu Port Authority’s (CPA) ownership of the Compania Maritima area, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has scored a victory by winning the support of the national government, which gave him the green light for the operation of the Puso Village and mechanical parking facility in the disputed area.
Rama also disclosed the plan to convert the Compania Maritima into a maritime museum.
In an interview on People’s Progressive Radio Media Network (PPRMN) on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, Rama said Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista had given him the go signal to allow Megawide Construction Corp., developer of the Carbon redevelopment project, to “operate” the Puso Village and mechanical parking facility it had built last year.
Rama said the matter was brought up in one of his recent meetings with Bautista, along with Transportation Undersecretary for Maritime Elmer Sarmiento.
“I was asked by the secretary, in which I made an annotation upon the request by Megawide. There will be no objection as long as they are operational,” said Rama.
Megawide subsidiary Cebu2World Development Inc. (C2W) is undertaking the redevelopment of the century-old Carbon Public Market under a joint venture agreement with the Cebu City Government.
The grand launch of the Puso Village commercial strip was stymied by a court order handed down last December that granted the CPA’s application for a writ of preliminary injunction to prohibit the City Government from occupying any portion of the Compaña Maritima area. The development affected more than 300 vendors.
The mechanical parking facility, which had begun operating last Dec. 16, was also forced to shut down.
The Dec. 23 2022 order by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 of Cebu City abruptly stopped all civil works and operations on the lot.
With the support coming from the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Rama said the ball is now in the hands of Megawide to operate it.
Puso Village is a commercial strip that has stalls for food, merchandise and local goods. It features 334 retail spaces, of which 138 will be food and beverage outlets.
The concept and design was based on Cebu’s famous diamond-shaped hanging rice called “puso.”
The mechanical parking, which has 156 parking slots, has mechanical lifters to allow vehicles to be parked vertically and in a stack, thereby providing much-needed additional parking spaces in the area.
Last week, C2W deputy general manager Lydwena Eco told SunStar Cebu that C2W had already spent close to P300 million on the construction and site development of both projects.
Maritime museum
Rama also said the century-old Compania Maritima is now under the administrative supervision of the National Historical Commission, which the local chief executive considered a good development as this aligns with his plans.
“That entire area, I was asked by the secretaries what’s my intention for the area. My intention is to preserve the sea, to bring culture and arts, to defend and protect heritage,” he said.
He said he is also planning to put a police station in the area.
However, there is a standing order from the RTC on the ownership of the area.
The RTC, in a decision released on Aug. 18, 2023, upheld its earlier decision affirming the CPA’s ownership of the Compania Maritima premises, denying the motion for reconsideration filed by the Cebu City Government, which was represented by Rama and Acting City Assessor Eustaquio Cesa.
SunStar Cebu contacted Eco and CPA for their comment on the development but received no response as of this writing.
CPA’s 20-story building
Rama, in the same interview, stood firm on his earlier statement that the CPA is set to construct a 20-story building near Compania Maritima despite the CPA’s denial of any plans to do so.
Rama claimed he was able to obtain a copy of the plan from Megawide officials.
On Oct. 5, the CPA denied Rama’s allegations, saying, “To set the record straight, what is being said on the alleged plan of CPA to construct a 20-story building along Compania Maritima premises is certainly not true.”