CEBU Gov. Hilario Davide III will ask for the permission of the Provincial Board (PB) to accept three Cebu City lots in exchange for those covered by Ordinance 93-1.
“We have an agreement in principle,” Davide said.
Technically, Capitol will get three parcels offered by Cebu City Tomas Osmeña—Block 27, which is at the back of SM in Mabolo; a South Road Properties (SRP) lot, which is near the ABC building; and Cebu Zoo lot—in exchange for the 32 has. of what is left of the 51 hectares lot covered by Ordinance 93-1. Davide did not specify the sizes of these lots offered to Capitol.
No cash involved
Davide admitted that there was no mention of money in his talk with Osmeña last week.
The governor explained that the ownership of the Cebu Zoo lot is still being contested by the Province and the City.
“Para maundang na ba, para mawa na nang panagbangi (So it will end, to eliminate the conflict),” he said, referring to the land dispute between the Capitol and the City.
He said this can be transformed into an amusement park for children, which Cebu lacks.
In exchange, Capitol will let go of its ownership of the 51 hectares lot covered by Ordinance 93-1, where 32 has. still remain unpaid by its occupants, as revealed by Davide in his Sept. 14, 2015 counter-proposal to then mayor Michael Rama.
Commitment
Davide and Osmeña committed during the campaign period to settle the 93-1 issue.
Rama’s offer was P500 million to buy the remaining 93-1 parcel of lots.
Capitol’s technical working group then reported the assessed value of the 32-ha. property was P2.956 billion as of 2011, but looking into the present condition, its present fair and just compensation of this unsold portion is P1.8 billion, according to Davide’s letter.
Davide said he plans to put up a commercial center on these lots once the Province acquires them.
Asked if there is cash involved, Davide said “There is no monetary consideration, no talk about money.”