SM wants to buy Pedro Calungsod mass site at SRP

CEBU, Philippines - The company has sent a letter of intent to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to purchase the property which was the site of the National Thanksgiving Mass celebrating the canonization of Saint Pedro Calungsod last year.

In a letter dated November 15, 2013 addressed to Rama, SM Prime Holding Inc. Market Research and Planning Vice President Ronald Tumao expressed their interest to purchase lot 8-B of the said property. Rama personally received the letter last week.

“This is to formally express our interest in purchasing LOT 8-B located at the South Road Properties, with an area of approximately 263,384 square meters,” the letter reads.

The subdivision plan setting forth the location, meters and bound of the said property was made an integral part of the letter intent.

The mayor’s executive assistant, former city councilor Atty. Joey Daluz, said the property costs P5 billion.

Daluz explained that this amount will be used for next year’s special projects, which include P1 billion financial assistance for senior citizens; P1.6 billion for infrastructures; P400 million for scholarship, and P1 billion to rebuild Cebu City Medical Center which was declared unsafe after the powerful earthquake last month.

“We need the amount to subsidize those projects and programs kay dili puwede makuha ni sa regular income like taxes because these are special programs,” Daluz added. —/GMR (FREEMAN)