At white hills subdivision: Probe into toll collection sought

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council wants an investigation into the alleged illegal collection of toll on a public road inside at White Hills Subdivision in Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.

In a privilege speech on Wednesday, Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. moved that White Hills Subdivision be included in the ongoing investigation conducted by a task force purposely created to recover city-owned lots within private subdivisions in the city.

Alcover also asked to invite in an executive session the officers of the said subdivision or its representative along with the city legal office to discuss the alleged unauthorized toll collection. The City Council has set the executive session on November 27.

Alcover also asked the city legal office to render a legal opinion on the collection of toll by the subdivision. He questioned the subdivision’s collection of toll for the use of public road.

According to Alcover, his office received a complaint from the "homeowner’s association" in Barangay Guadalupe on the toll imposed by White Hills Subdivision for residents passing through the road network inside the subdivision.

The complainant, Alcover said, presented official receipts supposedly issued by White Hills Foundation Incorporated (WHFI). Alcover said that the receipt attaches a statement of account dated July 8, 2024 under the name of WHFI. It was indicated that the P50 payment was for “toll delivery fee”.

Alcover said that the road networks inside the said subdivision are owned by the Cebu City Government after these were levied due to non-payment of real property taxes since 2011.

In fact, the City Treasurer’s Office issued a certification on October 4, 2024 that there was already a declaration of forfeiture of the subject road networks inside the White Hills Subdivision.

“Unya unsa may kalabotan ani batok sa paggamit sa pampublikong kadalanan alang sa pribadong katuyoan? Kini adunay kalabotan ay katong mga nahisgotang dalan o luna forfeited na in favor of the city kay nalakip ang atong dalan sa nahisgotang subdivision,” said Alcover.

Alcover explained that the forfeiture implied that a toll being collected along a public road by WHFI is a violation of the existing laws and regulations.

“I submit that this is time to collate all information regarding all city-owned lots within private subdivisions in Cebu City and expedite the recovery process,” said Alcover.

On July 7, 2024, Mayor Raymond Garcia announced the creation of a task force that will take charge the recovery of the more than 1,000 city-owned lots. This stemmed from a call from Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the Committee on Infrastructure, to form a task force that will focus on the recovery of the city-owned lots.

According to Garcia, most of these lot titles are yet to be transferred under the city government. Although the primary objective is to open city-owned networks, Garcia said the city government cannot also maintain private roads.

The task force is primarily headed by the Department of General Services alongside the City Assessor's Office. Also included as members are the Cebu City Engineers and city lawyers. — (FREEMAN)