Developer heeds Capitol, starts to vacate property

A PRIVATE developer has expressed its intention to surrender a prime lot owned by the Cebu Provincial Government.

The development came after the Capitol had deemed “defective” a six-year contract of lease between Innoland Development Corp. and the former governor, now Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III.

In a letter to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia dated Aug. 9, 2019, Innoland chief operating officer Charles Vincent Ong said the firm is willing to cooperate with the Capitol’s move to recover its property.

“Firstly, I would like to assure you that our company has always operated and will continue to always operate in good faith. I hope that our sincerity reaches you when we say that we entered that contract of lease in good faith and we built these improvements in good faith,” wrote Ong.

He added that they will cooperate with the Province “to ensure that we have a harmonious relationship with the government.”

The showroom of Innoland’s residential condominium, located beside the Cebu IT Park on Salinas Drive in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, stands on a leased property owned by the Province.

The Province, through Davide, had executed a six-year lease contract with Innoland in 2014.

Based on the contract signed by Davide and Ong, Capitol would lease 849 square meters of lot to Innoland for a monthly rate of P50 per square meter or P42,450.

But recently, the Garcia administration found out that the transaction did not undergo any bidding.

There was neither a Provincial Board (PB) resolution authorizing Davide to enter into a contract nor a resolution ratifying the contract.

Because of this, the Capitol had terminated the contract of lease and issued Innoland a notice to vacate the property.

“We are in the process of vacating and removing the personal items from the building and assure you that we will not perform any activity that involves demolishing or damaging the structure built on the property. We now ask for your guidance as to the exact method of surrendering these properties,” Ong said.

During the PB session on Tuesday, Aug. 13, PB Member John Ismael Borgonia (3rd) withdrew a resolution that would have authorized the governor to file civil charges against Innoland, saying the matter is already moot since Innoland will surrender the property.

Borgonia, who heads the committee on provincial and municipal properties, said the showroom will also be turned over to the Province.

Innoland had reportedly spent P25 million to build the showroom.

Section 2 Article 445 of the Civil Code of the Philippines provides that “Whatever is built, planted or sown on the land of another and the improvements or repairs made thereon, belong to the owner of the land...”/