Filinvest says City has not given title, to return lot
The Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) will return to the Cebu City Government the 19.2 hectare lot it bought at the South Road Properties (SRP).
In a press conference yesterday, Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced that the City and FLI agreed in principle to rescind the contract for the sale of P6.8 billion SRP lots after the latter failed to comply with some of its obligations to the latter.
Tristan Las Marias, FLI Senior Vice President for Visayas and Mindanao among those obligations and covenants that the City failed to do is to provide them with the titles of the two parcels of lots that they bought.
Up to this moment, Las Marias said the City failed to release the lot titles even if they won the public bidding in June 2015 yet.
“It seems that there is already an agreement in principle, the meet- ing of the minds to proceed with the cancellation and we will work out the process. The cancellation will be put in place with compliance of some provisions,” he said.
Osmeña said the cancellation of contract will take effect once both parties will settle the legal provision of the move.
The City has initially received P8.3 billion, which is equivalent to half of the total amount of the purchase cost.
The FLI said the move to rescind the contract is pursuant to Section 5.7 of the deed of sale that they entered with the City.
Under Section 5.7 or the Seller’s Default section, if the seller, which is the City, fails to timely and properly comply with its covenants, undertakings and obligations, the buyer, which is the FLI, will be considered relieved from any of its responsibilities or will not be held liable to pay the unpaid balance of the purchase price of the property.
Las Marias said the FLI would initially use the property for mixed use purposes, which will include offices for call centers, other commercial establishments and residential units.
Osmeña said he is “very relieved” with the development because it will bring back the viabili- ty of the SRP.
The 19.2-ha. lot the FLI bought has a very critical positioning, the mayor said, since it serves as access to the 60-ha. Pond A, which the City still owns.
In June 2015, the City sold three parcels of lots at the SRP with a combined area of 45.2-has., 26has. of it was sold to the consortium of Ayala Land-Cebu Holdings Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc.
When sought for comment, Rama refused to issue a statement.
For Councilor Jose Daluz, FLI’s reason is not valid.
“Whatever excuses they may say, we all know the story. They succumbed to pressure from the executive. That’s the real scenario,” he said.
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) hopes that the development “is the start of the resolution to the issue that has plagued the City, which is cause for concern as it affects the business climate.”
“We are all working hard to make Cebu’s business community competitive in the global market. This includes LGUs maintaining a business friendly atmosphere to attract more investments,” said Melanie Ng, CCCI president.