City dad seeks renewal of land swap negotiations

In the hope to settle an impasse between the Cebu City council and Capitol over lots owned by the province, councilor Nestor Archival, Sr., chairman of the council committee on housing, sought to renew the failed negotiations on land swapping.

In his proposed resolution, Archival wants to delete from the minutes of the city council sessions the reported "reckless comment" coming from the city council led by Vice Mayor Michael Rama in his privilege speech questioning the deal and even accusing the province of gaining an unfair advantage.

"In the interest of preserving the harmonious relationship between the city of Cebu and the Province of Cebu, removal from the minutes of the Sangguniang Panlungsod any remarks which may have been deemed offensive by both parties concerned is sought," the proposed resolution of Archival read.

The land swapping deal between the city and province is in a deadlock since March after Governor Gwendolyn Garcia cancelled the negotiations to exchange provincial properties identified under Provincial Ordinance 93-1.

Last August 23, according to Archival, it was already authorized to renew the negotiations with Garcia for the swapping of lots.

Archival, in his resolving clause of the resolution, is authorizing Mayor Tomas Osmeña to enter into and sign the memorandum of exchange of real properties, for and on behalf of the city, with the province of Cebu.

"The exchange or swapping of real estate properties is legal, fair and advantageous to both parties," Archival said.

The proposal of Archival will now be deliberated in today's council session.

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 2,900 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 nursery and storage space for equipment of the City Hall and the Cebu City Medical Center.

While the current market value of the province's property amounts to P3.15 billion, the deal is not favorable to the city in financial terms since it will be able to collect a maximum amount of only P183.1 million from the occupants. The market value of the city's property is P415.3 million.

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

Under Provincial Ordinance 93-1, occupants of the province-owned property were entitled to purchase their lots on installment basis from 1993 to 1998. This was later extended to May 2004. The occupants asked for another extension but Garcia vetoed the ordinance seeking to move the deadline for payments.

Capitol plans to dispose of the properties to interested private companies for development. These lots were offered to the beneficiaries at very minimal price as on-site relocation under Ordinance 93-1 during the time of then governor Vicente "Tingting" de la Serna. - Garry B. Lao