Land swap is now irrelevant - Guv

CEBU, Philippines - The revival of the issue on land swap deal by the Cebu City Council to the Province of Cebu is already irrelevant, said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

Garcia made the statement following the offer of the Cebu City Council to revive the proposed land swap negotiation between the City and Province to help occupants of province-owned lots to resolve the matter permanently.

Garcia, however, appreciated the concern of the City Council for the welfare of the more than 3,000 families that occupy the province-owned lots in what used to be known as 93-1 lots.

“Let me assure them that they need not worry about these families anymore, they may not have been updated but we have already found a solution,” Garcia told reporters.

The Capitol is now directly negotiating with the urban poor families through the homeowners associations for the purchase of the lots where their houses stand with options of direct purchase, group housing programs through Pag-IBIG, and the Community Mortgage Program.

This was made possible through the intervention of the office of Vice President Jejomar Binay, who heads the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

“I guess at this point in time, with all due respect, irrelevant na ilang land swap offer,” Garcia said.

The deal was originally proposed by then mayor, now Rep. Tomas Osmeña in 2007, but did not push through when then vice mayor Michael Rama called it as one that only favors the province.

Rama’s privilege speech years ago while he was still vice mayor was tagged as the reason for its failure to take off.

This time, the Cebu City Council authorized Mayor Rama to revive the proposed land swap negotiation between the City and Province.

Councilors Alvin Dizon, Nida Cabrera and Rodrigo Abellanosa explained that while the Province of Cebu, through Governor Gwen Garcia, has allowed the occupants of the province-owned lots to purchase them, but they might not be able to afford the high cost of the lots, which they need to pay within a year.

The three city legislators said that the occupants of the province-owned lots were the ones who suggested the revival of the proposed land swap deal.

The City Council is reportedly calling a public hearing about the matter on August 15 in order to gather feedback and recommendations from those affected.  (FREEMAN)