Cut SRP into small lots
There was reported, in an inside page of a newspaper, a set of refreshing and important economic data. While the report was appropriately written in its business page, not many of us scan the inside pages. So, I was not sure if a majority of the readers noticed it. The editor could have very well placed the news in the front page of the daily considering its weight and significance but that is not the objective of this write up.
The year 2014 saw the registration, in government regulatory offices, of more than thirteen thousand business establishments. However, according to government records the biggest number of registered commercial firms happened in 2011. There was no specific mention if the number covered those of the city only but just the same, it was big and as if to show that the upward growth of the country is steady, the news made it clear that it was higher than in the previous year, 2013. In round figure, the amount of capital of these businesses went up to a little more than five billion pesos. If that should be the fact, we can calculate that businesses involved were not in the category of a billion peso enterprise.
Cebu City, during the administration of the former mayor, sold some portions of the South Reclamation Project, named South Road Properties. The known buyers were the SM, which is reputedly the country's leading mall owner and the Filinvest. We have not seen the documents of the transactions but reports have it that both firms paid (and continue to pay) billions of pesos.
Shortly after the present mayor took over the reigns of the city government, an ordinance was passed tying the hands of the incumbent from taking moves to sell any part of the SRP. So, it is safe to assume that so far, only two businesses have acquired, by way of purchase and sale, portions of the reclaimed land.
Having said that, I can also surmise that of the 13,000 plus firms registered in 2014, none of them had bought a portion of the SRP. And this is the issue of this column today.
It is important to note that the SRP is divided only into large cuts. We are talking here of land sizes in hectares. When SM bought a portion of the reclaimed land, the area was not measured in terms of hundred square meters. The company acquired hectares of prime land. This was also the situation of Filinvest. Naturally, the purchase price was in billions of pesos. So, it is, understandable that if the thirteen thousand firms registered in 2014 were to be combined into one firm, it could hardly buy an SRP lot.
The SRP should not be the economic park only of the large corporations. Keeping the present sizes of the lots there means to shut the door to middle sized corporation. In the present set-up, it is the business domain only of the biggest corporation of the land. That situation is, in effect, discriminatory to smaller outfits.
The SRP must likewise be the place where the medium size corporations can do business. This can only be attained when the city administration moves to cut the sizes of the land areas there to affordable levels. The Cebu Business Center of the Ayala's is a good prototype. There are corporations that acquired lots from the Ayalas in sizes smaller than one hectare and they have put up their structures over their landholdings there. Today we see many firms that have found home in these buildings.
The members of our city council should spearhead this move. They have to pass a measure decreeing the subdivision of the SRP into small cuts of say, one hectare per unit. In this small size, many businessmen may be encouraged to put their firms in SRP and that can therefore spur the growth and development of this prime property.
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