Occupants of Capitol-owned lots ask Gwen to reconsider eviction

Teetering on the edge of eviction, several occupants of various Capitol-owned properties in the city have appealed to Governor Gwen Garcia to amend some terms of occupancy and give them more time to settle their overdue accounts.

At least three homeowners groups from properties in barangay Luz have submitted to the Capitol their separate resolutions stating their wish to acquire the lots they have been occupying while asking the governor to grant them the chance for such.

The resolutions said, "Many of our actual occupants could not really fully pay on time for the stipulated deadline... We have conveyed our urgent request to modify the terms of sale of lots, more particularly in the issue of deadline, processing of requirements and payment of period."

Copies of these resolutions were also given to Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the Cebu City Council. The groups said the non-extension of dues has put the poor families in "limbo" on whether they could still buy the lots they have been occupying.

There are more others occupying Capitol-owned lots in barangays Apas, Busay, Mabolo, Lorega-San Miguel, Camputhaw, Lahug, Capitol Site and Kalunasan but they have not yet sent similar resolutions to the governor.

Under Provincial Ordinance 93-1, these residents were granted the chance to purchase their occupied lots on installment basis from 1993 to 1998. Some were able to pay their dues fully but others did not.

Capitol tried to give the others a chance and extended the deadline twice, first to 1998 and later to May 2004. The occupants asked for another extension but Governor Garcia rejected it.

Records then showed that only 1433 out of 4148 families have paid their dues in full while the rest faced forfeiture of previous payments, and eviction from the property they have been occupying.

Last July 11 and 23, the Office of the Provincial Attorney sent demand letters to the groups' members or to vacate the lot within 30 days. Last week, at least 1000 notices were sent to occupants in Lahug and Luz.

The governor said the eviction notices will be done gradually but she said, "I would like to stop this attitude of treating government as a charitable institution. We run this as an enterprise for more revenues, for more services...to more people that we serve."

To be evicted are those that did not pay their amortization dues and even those who did but used the acquired lots for purposes other than residential.

When Osmeña said the Capitol could not evict the residents without writs from the courts, the governor clarified that the notices were meant to inform them that they have not paid their dues.

Osmeña tried to save the residents from getting evicted by proposing to Capitol a land-swap deal involving the city's property at the north reclamation area and the Capitol-owned lots scattered in 11 barangays of the city.

But this plan got derailed when some council members openly opposed it, contending that the city would be shortchanged in the deal because the city's lots cost more than the Capitol's.

This turned out otherwise, however, when a Capitol-commissioned appraisal firm declared that the value of the provincial lots shot up 10 times over the original values.

But Governor Garcia, already hurt from the council's tirade against the deal, decided to call off the plan saying, "the constituents of the province should not be subjected to further unjustifiable discrimination."

The governor later pointed out that it was not the fault of Mayor Osmeña if the proposed lot-swap deal with the Capitol failed because the mayor did what he could to avert the eviction of occupants in the Capitol-owned lots. - Garry B. Lao and Cristina C. Birondo