THE Cebu Provincial Government wants to recover two lots it donated to the defunct Philippine Constabulary (PC) in 1959 for violating the terms of donation.
The two lots that became PC Hills are located in Barangay Apas, Cebu City. These were intended to be the sites of the PC’s barracks and headquarters.
With the PC gone and replaced by the Philippine National Police, PC Hills became the home of police officials and officers in the region.
According to a report by Sugbo News, the official news arm of the Cebu Provincial Government, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia wants occupants of Lot 1157, which has an area of 25,962 square meters, and a portion of Lot 1158, which has an area of 25,583 square meters, to pay the Capitol.
Garcia had already met with Brig. Gen. Eduardo Vega, director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7, to discuss the return of the properties.
The donation came with the condition that once the lots are no longer used by the PC, they will automatically revert to the Provincial Government.
The governor said the Province and the PRO 7 would have to come up with a new arrangement.
“So let’s enter into a memorandum of understanding... Anyway, these are also former enlisted men of PC, so, as I said, I don’t want to cause too much anguish. You’ve been there for years and years. For me, the Province has to be justly compensated for the lot,” she said in a mix of English and Cebuano.
“You cannot get that lot for free but it’s of no moment because you will be dealing with the National Housing Authority (NHA) and with Pag-Ibig where they have very, very liberal terms of repayment. Well, it will be the NHA and Pagibig that will pay the Province of Cebu,” Garcia said.
PC Hills is also home to many informal settlers.
In 2020, then PRO 7 director Albert Ignatius Ferro ordered them to move out, but they refused.
The intention of the Provincial Government to recover PC Hills lots came after the turnover of lots from the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Visayas Command to the Capitol.
Last Oct. 3, the Province recovered at least 17.5 hectares of the 80 hectares of land occupied by Camp Lapu-Lapu from the AFP after a dispute of nearly 30 years.
The AFP had violated the condition set by the Capitol for its donation of the land in 1959 that it be used for military purposes only, by allowing homes and a golf driving range to be built there.