Lot swap deal: Lahug residents given choice between Tom and barangay captain

Politics is hounding the fate of Lahug residents occupying province-owned lots after Mayor Tomas Osmeña made them choose between him and Lahug barangay captain Mary Ann de los Santos as their savior.

"They have to decide who they want to handle their situation...they have to make it very clear where they stand," Osmeña said.

The province has issued new eviction notices to the residents but Osmeña said he will not dip his finger into the issue once the residents choose to let De los Santos handle the situation.

Osmeña clarified he does not want a repeat of what happened during the elections wherein De los Santos allegedly assured the residents of sitio Kamagong that the province has already approved their occupancy of the lots, which turned out to be otherwise.

"As the mayor of the city, I accept responsibility for any problem but the people will have to bear with me that they have to make the situation clear. They have to decide. I don't want to do it and deliver and the barangay captain will claim," Osmeña said.

On top of this, Osmeña recognizes the ongoing unspoken rift between the province and the city council following the "reckless remarks" issued by Vice Mayor Michael Rama during a privilege speech on the land swap deal that Osmeña had proposed.

"Igo ra unya sila modawat og limpyo," Rama said of the province, he also told the city council not to make haphazard decisions when P400 million worth of City Hall property is at stake.

Rama said that he only wanted to make sure the council's decision to give up the property in exchange for P183 million it will eventually collect from the occupants will not be questioned later on.

He already issued an apology to the province, but apparently the apology was not enough to heal the wounds.

Of the total 4,148 families occupying provincial lots, only 1,467 families have paid in full for the area they are occupying. To spare the rest of the families from being evicted, the land swapping deal was considered a solution.

In exchange for the Capitol's 504,055-square-meter property, the city is planning to give the province a 33,737-square-meter prime lot at the North Reclamation Area, which is presently used as a storage space for City Hall equipment.

The province-owned lots are located in barangays Apas, Luz, Busay, Mabolo, Lorega, Camputhaw, Lahug, Capitol Site and Kalunasan. - Joeberth M. Ocao