CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu City government wants the open space at the back of Malacañang sa Sugbo to be titled under its name.
Lawyer Jade Ponce, chief of the city’s Land Management Council, said the city government applied for a land title with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 last week.
The city’s application came after the Cebu Ports Authority requested the Office of the President to allow the CPA to have jurisdiction over the open space to decongest the port area.
CPA general manager Edmund Tan said they want to use the berthing spaces and apron at the back of Malacañang sa Sugbo to decongest other parts of the pier, especially the Cebu International Port.
“Please be informed that the worsening port congestion in CIP has been seriously affecting the business community in Cebu so much so that the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has once again encouraged and joined us to push for the return of the said berthing areas to the authority,” read CPA’s letter to Malacañang.
Ponce explained that the city’s application for land title does not mean that they do not have jurisdiction over the area.
“Regardless kon ma-title-an sa city or not, the LGU being the supreme government within its territorial jurisdiction has a say in its administration. I don’t care bisan ma-titulohan pa na nila. You cannot build there and we will enforce that through the Local Zoning Board,” he said.
Ponce said that they will recommend to the Local Zoning Board to declare the whole area to be developed as cultural and heritage areas, adding that LMC will be tapping colleges and universities to discuss on the possible development in the open space.
Ponce said that he is not amenable that CPA will use the open space as container yard saying that the area is far from CIP.
“It is impractical to be converted as container yard kay gamay raman nang lugara, there are hundreds of areas around the city, Reclamation area sa Mandaue city, why can’t they rent there,” he said.
“Makuha man ang title or dili, nobody is superior to the City of Cebu when it comes to the use,” he added.
Meanwhile, city attorney Jerone Castillo said that he already talked with Tan last week regarding the CPA’s request.
Castillo said that Tan clarified that CPA will only be using the berthing space at the back of the Malacañang sa Sugbo to be the docking area of international ships.
“Unya, ingon ni Admiral Tan nga temporary set-up ra gyod because he told me that there are proposals that an international port will be put-up somewhere in Consolacion but wala pay approval sa DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communication),” Castillo said.
If the CPA will only be using the berthing space, Castillo said that he will inform Mayor Michael Rama about it.
Initially, Rama opposed the request of CPA, saying that he wants to preserve the heritage and historical value of the area.
“It is a give and take between two government offices with our position that it should be maintained as heritage historical area, at the same time, wala sad ma-compromise ang value sa iyang pag-ka heritage, nga maka-gamit as temporary,” Castillo said. — /FPL (FREEMAN)