93-1 lot swap hits a snag on SRP property
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña admitted that the city has met a technical problem in transferring the ownership of the 2.5hectare lot in the South Road Properties to the Province of Cebu, which is part of the 93-1 agreement.
Under the existing laws, disposition of properties in SRP shall be done through an ordinance and not by a mere resolution.
"Yes, that's the problem. I'm determined to solve that," he told reporters.
On December 7, 2016, Osmeña and Governor HilarioDavide III signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the land swapping deal between Cebu City and Cebu Province.
Osmeña believes that an ordinance is not needed to transfer the ownership of the SRP lot, saying it is an exchange of properties between two local government units (LGUs).
The mayor, however, assured that despite the difficulty they are having now, he will resolve the land swap issue before the year ends.
"As far as I am concerned, if we could give land to Supreme Court, why can't we give land to the Province of Cebu without anything? Why call it a swap and give it to them?" he said.
It has been a year and six months already since the MOA was signed by both parties and it remains unresolved until now.
The issue surfaced after opposition Councilor Joel Garganera questioned the timeline of exchanging the properties to the province.
"The reason why I brought this up, sige man gud na siya ingon nga babag mi. But you know, tan-awa ra gud," Garganera said.
To recall, resolving the 93-1 issue through land swapping is among the promises of Osmeña and Davide during the 2016 elections and they promised to settle it within six months upon after they assumed office.
As of press time, Councilor Sisinio Andales, chairman of the committee on laws, is studying the appropriate legislative measure they should take to resolve the matter.
Other properties of the city that are included in the land swapping are the 13,711-square-meter lot of its Sewerage Treatment Plant; 2,475-square-meter slaughterhouse at the North Reclamation Area; nine-hectare property in Pulpogan, Consolacion and the 3.3hectare Block 27, Block 27-A and Block 27-B including the road in between at the North Reclamation Area.
The lots owned by the province to be swapped with the city properties are the 32.4-hectare properties covered by Provincial Ordinance No. 93-1.
The 93-1 Ordinance has at least 5,000 beneficiaries from 11 barangays namely Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Kalunasan, Busay, Luz, Lahug, Mabolo,Apas, Lorega, San Miguel, Kasambagan, and Tejero. —
Odessa O. Leyson/MBG