Sonny grateful of SRP sale

CEBU - Former Senator John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña, a staunch critic of the South Road Properties, is changing his stand on it.

Osmeña, who was at the City Hall yesterday attending the necrological service and Mass for former mayor Eulogio Borres, Sr. said that he is glad on the reported sale of the SRP lot.

“Lipay man gani ko. Makapuno-puno diyutay sa pagbayad sa dakong utang nga gisagubang sa siyudad,” he said.

It maybe recalled that Sonny, the cousin and political foe of Mayor Tomas Osmeña, said that it may not be possible to sell portions of the SRP as the decision of the Supreme Court had barred selling of reclaimed land.

The SRP is a 300-hectare reclaimed lot. Around P700 million went to the servicing of the loan this year. Payment, of the same amount, will continue in the next four years and will be reduced to P250 million in the next 15 years.

Also yesterday, the joint venture committee that studied the proposal of Filinvest Land, Inc. already accepted the unsolicited proposal of the latter to develop the 50-hectare prime lot at the SRP.

City administrator Francisco Fernandez said that such proposal will be forwarded to the members of the City Council in a meeting on Tuesday to grant them the authority to publish the said proposal in a newspaper of general circulation.

Fernandez said that the Filinvest proposal will be published to open a “competitive challenge for anybody interested and for the challenger to present a better offer.”

Filinvest is one of the largest real estate companies in the country.

So far, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia already expressed her intent to challenge the Filinvest proposal.

After publication, any developers or anybody interested has 30 days to challenge Filinvest’s proposal.

If the challenger will offer a better deal, this still has to undergo evaluation by the committee as to whether it has the capacity to compete. Also, to ensure it has the capacity to invest that much money.

The committee will also see to it that the bid of the challenger is more favorable to the city as compared to the offer of Filinvest. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)