CEBU, Philippines — There are at least 30,000 in housing backlogs in Cebu City, which makes it imperative that the city government recovers a donated lot in Brgy. Kalunasan and revoke the land title of Evangelical Christian Coalition of Cebu (ECCC).
This was revealed yesterday during the Cebu City Council executive session made to further discuss the recommendation of the City Legal Office (CLO) to revoke the deed of donation given to ECCC, which did not utilize the lot after several years since getting it titled to its name.
City Councilor Jerry Guardo, committee on infrastructure chairman, said it is only proper that the city gets back the four-hectare lot because it was not utilized according to its intended purpose—which is that for a cemetery.
During the executive session, City Planning and Development Officer Michael Joseph Espina presented the concept for the proposed Kalunasan housing before the City Council.
During his presentation, Espina emphasized that the city is need of socialized housing sites and is thus eyeing various city-owned lots that can be utilized for this purpose, including the unused Kalunasan lot.
He said the areas is zoned as “parks and recreation,” hence a cemetery is also not an appropriate use.
Espina said that in 2014, the City’s Division of Welfare and Urban Poor (DWUP) reported a housing backlog 12,043 in the north district and 14,589 in the south district.
“But now that’s probably more than 30,000. So, imagine the backlog we have in housing…. This is the direction of the city now, and we are looking for areas for housing,” he said.
To further emphasize the need, he said the city is even thinking of doing transitional housing first since it is still not possible to have permanent housing.
He said that in the last three years 2,710 structures were demolished, as ordered by the courts, displacing 9,655 families, with 1,062 structures set to be destroyed also.
On the city government’s efforts to restore the three-meter easement of its waterways, it needs to remove 6,241 structures, which would result to more displacement of residents.
That is why, Espina said, once the Kalunasan lot is recovered, the city can establish a socialized housing in the lower portion of the land while the upper portion will serve as economic housing site.
These are aside from the plan to build low- and high-rise buildings in the area.
Espina said the City also plans to build a Presidential Library and Museum to honor the late president Sergio Osmen?a to serve as an eco-tourism attraction.
He said that it is only fitting since the area is more compatible to be used as residential and eco-tourism area and no longer appropriate to be utilized as cemetery.
During the discussion, Lawyer Vincent Gimena of the CLO said they already rendered an opinion on that based on the May 4, 2010 deed of donation, the property has not met the conditions for it to be developed as a cemetery.
“So, this is a violation of the deed of donation, hence, actually, the city has the right to seek judicial intervention of this deed of donation,” he said.
He likewise said that there is no record on the acceptance of the deed of donation which he cited a vital piece to validate the donation.
Last July 8, Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia announced the formation of a “Recovery Task Force” to get back more than a thousand Cebu City-owned lots meant for the opening of road networks and other whose titles were already transferred to the City Government.
It was during the time of then mayor Tomas Osmeña that the City entered into a deed of donation with the ECCC for the four-hectare property. The donation came with an agreement that ECCC would use the lot as a cemetery.
A document obtained by the media showed that it was Osmeña and a certain Rev. Romeo T. Borado who signed the donation last May 4, 2017.
It was indicated that the 42, 687-square-meter lot will be donated due to the City Government’s desire to “help and cooperate with the Donee” in the creation of a cemetery. — /RHM (FREEMAN)