THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) will compensate the Cebu Provincial Government for the use of its road lots for two bus stations of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project in Cebu City, the project’s manager told SunStar Cebu Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.
CBRT project manager Norvin Imbong said the DOTr is willing to provide just compensation for the two provincial government-owned lots along Osmeña Boulevard.
“Sa pagkakaron, kami ang ilang gikasabot jud nga mohatag nila (sa just compensation) kay kami man ang mogamit sa yuta sa pagtukod (sa bus) station...DOTr maoy mo (hatag) compensation ni Gov,” Imbong said.
(For now, we are the ones they negotiated with to give them just compensation because we are the ones using their lot to build the station. It is the DOTr that will give compensation to the governor.)
A day earlier, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia had informed Imbong that the Cebu Provincial Capitol would now formally submit its claim of ownership over the lots to be used by the DOTr for bus stations of the CBRT.
According to the report, at least two bus stations for Package 1 of the CBRT project, one near Fuente Osmeña Circle and the other in front of the Capitol Building—will occupy lots owned by the Provincial Government.
“Portions of some Capitol-owned properties along Osmeña Boulevard, designated as road lots, are now being developed to build the bus stations,” Sugbo News, the Capitol’s online media arm, reported Wednesday.
Package 1, which covers a distance of 2.38 kilometers from the Cebu South Bus Terminal on N. Bacalso Avenue to the front of the Capitol building along Osmeña Boulevard, will have four bus stations.
On Thursday, Imbong told SunStar Cebu that there was still no final figure on how much the DOTr needed to pay the Provincial Government, since the latter still needs to calculate the area covered by the bus station to come up with the amount.
“Yesterday, there was mention of figures, but we cannot speak about it until they can already formally submit their proposal. They are still looking at how much space will be covered by the stations,” Imbong said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Work goes on
Imbong assured that Garcia’s demand for just compensation will not affect the ongoing construction of the CBRT, nor will it cause further delays in the project’s implementation.
“Di man siguro kay nisuwat na man ang DOTr nga mo compensate mi. Mao ng gihatagan ra mi (permission) nga (padayon) makatrabaho,” Imbong said.
(I don’t think so because the DOTr has already written to say that we will provide compensation. That is why we were given permission to continue working on the project.)
When asked if Garcia specified a deadline for the payment of the compensation, Imbong said the governor did not provide a specific date, as long as they delivered the amount.
Upon receiving the compensation proposal with a specific amount, Imbong said they will forward it to the central office for review and approval.
It was in February 2023, when civil works on the CBRT began, that Garcia first demanded that the DOTr provide “just compensation” for Capitol lots that would be covered by the CBRT project.
Payment
The Province has been seeking payment from both private and government entities for what the Capitol has described as their years-long encroachment on Provincial Government property.
In January, Garcia asked the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH 7) to pay for over-allotting portions of major roads in the city, including Osmeña Boulevard, Salinas Drive, W. Geonzon St., IT Park Access Road, Gov. Cuenco Avenue and B. Rodriguez St., resulting in encroachment on Capitol property.
In July, SunStar Cebu reported on Garcia’s insistence that the Provincial Capitol was entitled to compensation from the DPWH 7 after Undersecretary for Legal Service Anne Sharlyne Lapuz said the DPWH would not pay the Capitol for the lot encroachment, as the lots claimed by the Province were only being “held in trust for the state for the benefit of its inhabitants.”
In April, the DPWH Cebu City District Office said the DPWH had encroached on 42,615 square meters of Capitol property on Osmeña Boulevard, of which 24,242 square meters was on the right side of the road and the rest on the left side, after the public works agency years ago built a national road whose width extended beyond the 20-meter limit, resulting in encroachment of two meters on each side.
In March, SunStar Cebu reported that the Cebu Provincial Government owns the road lots, including the sidewalks, from the Capitol to the Fuente Osmeña Circle.
The Capitol’s Real Estate Division identified 22 establishments that encroached beyond the allocated property line as per the Civil Code of 1949. These include Cebu Doctors’ Hospital, Cebu Gospel Church, Suarez and Sons, Avon, Coco Mall, and Anita’s Bakeshop.
The governor has also requested utility firms, including telecommunication firms, to compensate the Capitol for using portions of its lots along Osmeña Boulevard.
CBRT Package 1 is expected to be partially operational in the first quarter of 2024 instead of the initial target of December.
Phase 1 of the CBRT project is composed of three packages.
Package 1, awarded to Hunan Construction for P900 million, covers 2.38 kilometers from the Cebu Provincial Capitol to the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT).
Package 2 consists of 10.8 kilometers of routes from the Provincial Capitol to Cebu IT Park in Barangay Lahug, and another route from CSBT to the South Road Properties (SRP) traversing N. Bacalso Avenue.
Package 3 will include 22.1 kilometers of routes from the Cebu I.T. Park to Barangay Talamban and from the SRP to Talisay City. (WITH CTL)