WILL the issuance of a cease-and-desist order by the Talisay City government against the Cebu City government spark a new round of hostilities between the two neighboring local government units?
South Road Property (SRP) War I broke out after Talisay City staked a claim on portions of the SRP that used to be part of the Talisay seas. It degenerated into a personal quarrel between then Cebu City mayor Tommy Osmeña and then first district Rep. Eddie Gullas after Osmeña accused the latter of landgrabbing.
Cebu City won that war after it was able to secure the issuance of certificates of title to the SRP in its name. The issue of ownership is therefore more or less settled.
But who has territorial jurisdiction over the SRP lots that Talisay unsuccessfully claimed as its own? I think that this time the law favors Talisay.
That was exactly what I told some of my friends when I first heard about Talisay’s plan to claim ownership over portions of the SRP. That (ownership) might be difficult to establish, I said then, because the reclamation was finished over a period of time and Talisay never lifted a finger to stop Cebu City from doing the project.
Territorial jurisdiction, on the other hand, would be easier to prove because all you need to show is that the land is located within Talisay. Concede Cebu City’s ownership of the property but insist on your right to tax them and to regulate activities within these properties, I told my friends then.
That seems to be the tack of the new Talisay City administration. And if my reading of Talisay’s position is correct, then Cebu City Attorney Jerone Castillo’s assertion that they have titles to prove that they own the property may be misplaced. Castillo should not only show that his client owns the property, he should also prove that the property is located in Cebu City.
That, by the way, is the mayor’s line of reasoning in asserting that the Cebu Port Authority’s fencing of a property near the Compania Maritima was illegal.
He said that over lunch at the Casino Español some two or three weeks ago. Mike, who is a lawyer, argued that even granting, without admitting, that the CPA owned the property, under the law, no property owner can fence or build on that property without the consent of the mayor of the local government unit where that property is located.
In Cebu City, he said, there is no other local government unit but the City of Cebu.
That, in effect, is what the Talisay City attorney is telling him now. The SRP may be yours but the portion where you have an ongoing construction is located in Talisay so please, secure a permit. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
It is interesting to find out whether Cebu City is going to heed the cease-and-desist order. My hunch is that it will not, unless it is prepared to admit that indeed the subject property is located in Talisay City.
But where will that leave the city council? The mayor cannot give up territorial jurisdiction just like that. The implications are enormous; real property taxes could reach hundreds of millions of pesos over the years. Because the city will be giving up so much, the mayor has to secure the consent of the city’s legislature. I doubt if he could get, assuming that he is minded to (ask for that consent).
The chief lawyers of the two cities have expressed a willingness to sit down and resolve the issue. I am not as optimistic. They may be able to avert SRP War II but they can’t avoid going to court for help.
(frank.otherside@yahoo.com)
