Ad hoc committee pushed: CBRT lot purchase irregular?

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council will tackle today a proposal by City Councilors James Anthony Cuenco, chairman of the council committee on transportation, and Phillip Zafra for the creation of an ad hoc committee that will look into the alleged irregularities in the procurement of land intended as relocation site for individuals affected by the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project.

Yesterday, the City Council conducted an executive session to discuss matters relative to the approval of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for those who will be displaced by the CBRT packages 2 and 3.

In an interview after the closed-door session, Cuenco said several properties have already been identified for purchase by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), with the payment coming from the loan from the World Bank (WB) and the French Government that the Philippines took to fund the CBRT.

It was also revealed that the DOTr has downloaded the budget appropriation of P450 million for the land acquisition two years ago. The supposed beneficiaries of RAP are those who will be displaced in Barangay Mambaling.

Cuenco said that the role of the city is to identify the lots for purchase and recommend and then make recommendations to the National Housing Authority (NHA). The NHA will be the one responsible for building the infrastructure to house those who will be displaced.

He further said that the recommended lots were endorsed before the City Council for its approval so DOTr could now proceed with the payments.

Cuenco said they, however, found out that the three lots that would be purchased are owned by one corporation and that one is in Barangay Tejero.

"Alarm bells were sounded because there is a lack of competitiveness in the selection process," he said.

He said that they also found out that the supposed acquisition was not backed by a resolution but rather just through the endorsement of the Land Acquisition Committee of the City Council.

Cuenco said since 2021, the recommendation of that one lot in Tejero stayed. He said the members of the said committee were not present during the executive session.

He said that the City Council will tackle the manner as a collegial body.

"Because it is the responsibility of the city to purchase the lot and whatever complaints that may come later on, it will be the city who will answer for it, so we have to be very careful before approving," said Cuenco.

He said the committee would have to investigate, provide an assessment, and give a recommendation to the council within 15 days.

As proposed, the committee will be composed of the Cebu City Legal Office, Cebu City Planning and Development Office, Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor, and the City Appraisal Committee.

Cuenco further said that he recently found out that there have been several city-owned lots, according to the list submitted by the City Assessors Office, that could have been the ones purchased.

“It would have been advantageous for the city kung ang paliton sa DOTr kanang city-owned lots, mas barato pa and naa pay kwarta ang city," said Cuenco.

Cuenco said that the chosen lot costs P83,000 per square meter which is P180 million in total.

"Something fishy somewhere, the words pa ni Joy Pesquera—fishy," said Cuenco referring to the lot recommendations, adding that DOTr is in a "hurry" to consummate these purchases to be able to meet a deadline set by the World Bank.

He also said that CBRT management reached out to him and told him that the BRT may open their partial operation in December when he asked if they could still reach their target completion of Phase 1.

"But I told them that I am wishing them the best but I still have skepticism on whether this project will still be successful," Cuenco said, as he wondered, “Will package 1 will even be viable?"

Cuenco further said that the CBRT is waiting for the approval of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, because having the government as the operator is "out of the picture" since it has no existing experience in handling BRT. — (FREEMAN)