It's the first week of January and there was a fire that struck Sitio Avocado just across the Lahug Barangay Hall (it has its own fire truck) and some 60 or so families suddenly became homeless. But somehow the area has become a political ballgame, with members of Team Rama helping the fire victims, while supposedly the real owner of this property, the University of the Philippines Cebu Campus wanting to fence that property.
My understanding of this property is that it still belongs to UPCC. But then, through their own neglect for failing to secure State property, they allowed these lands to be squatted for many decades. We have gathered that two years ago, UPCC wanted to build their new high school in this property. But with this fire, it is now easier for them to take over the property.
Of course, the illegal settlers refused to move out of that property. After all, they have the backing of the Cebu City government and to make matters worse and complicated the Cebu City government has now distributed lots to some 59 families with each family getting 32 square meters each. So the legal question really is, does the City of Cebu have the right to give and distribute lands that doesn't belong to them?
Secondly, if UPCC really wanted to build their high school in that squatted property, have they already issued and paid relocation sites for those who are living in that area, including those whose homes were not burned? We hope to get answers to these legal questions the soonest.
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Still on the issue of politicking, I dare say that it is but right for the minority bloc to file a case of mandamus in the Regional Trial Court in order to compel the majority party members of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan councilors, that included Cebu City's outstanding loan with the Japan International Cooperating Agency which is supposedly already due and demandable.
According to former Councilor Joey Daluz, the City of Cebu already got paid P3,819,272,000 from SM Prime Holdings and Ayala Land-Cebu Holdings and another P2,699,450,422 from Filinvest Land, Inc. for the sale of the properties in the South Road Properties, which is more than enough to pay our outstanding loan with JICA amounting to P2,488,409,886.
Before the Year 2016 ended, at the last Cebu City Council, presiding officer, Acting Vice Mayor Nestor Archival held a session minus his party mates from the BOPK. Now this could only mean one thing, either he doesn't have the respect of his own peers in the BOPK because none of them showed up in that session, or that call for the last session was a planned boycott by BOPK so no budget could be deliberated.
Least they forget, we are dealing with JICA and the Japanese take these things seriously. In my book, failing to pay our SRP debts is a shame to our debtors more so when we already have the money to pay them. So please on behalf of the Cebuano people, the BOPK should stop this politicking and allow this budget to pass. We Cebuanos should forge a reputation of people who pay their debts regardless of the political situation. It is not only right, but also the proper thing to do!
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I'm glad that for the first week of this New Year 2016, the City of Mandaue has focused on reducing traffic in many critical areas, even to the point of asking shopping malls for cooperation and yes, including the enhanced training of TEAM (Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue) enforcers so they could do their job properly.
While they can't do much with traffic clogged areas like along the corner of M.C. Briones St. corner United Nations Ave., which really needs a new flyover for vehicles that are going straight, what I would like to know is whether plans are now being set to construct this flyover, including the one along United Nations Ave. and Plaridel St. least they forget, there are three "E's" of Traffic Management, that are Enforcement, Education, and Engineering. I have been observing the traffic flow along this route and no amount of enforcement or education can move the traffic flow. It needs engineering, which means preparing infrastructure funds for these two projects.
But there is a project that I already told Mayor Jonas Cortes during his first term of office. Yet, it really doesn't need a huge amount of funds, just political will.
I'm referring to that junction of M.C. Briones St. from across the San Miguel Brewery on the road along Conrado D. Seno St. in front of the Cebu International Convention Center. It is a matter of asking the gas station to shift their garage into the old road so that Conrado Seno St. can go all the way to M.C. Briones St. So the question is - will it happen?
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