DOTr head to meet CPA execs

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista has scheduled a meeting with the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to tackle, among others, the issue on the ongoing rift between the latter and the Cebu City Government.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama had brought to Bautista’s attention the issue on the ownership of the Compania Maritima as early as last year before the issue had fully escalated.

Bautista told The FREEMAN yesterday after the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cebu BRT that he will be meeting with the CPA officials to tackle some matters including this.

CPA is under the Philippine Ports Authority which is an attached agency of the DOTr.

“Hindi pa namin napagusapan yan…I will be having a meeting with CPA, isa na nito is para mapag-usapan ang issue na to,” Bautista said.

Bautista hopes this issue will be resolved amicably.

In a previous interview, Rama recalled having a good relationship with CPA’s previous administration, even agreeing to develop the Compania Maritima after being abandoned by its owner, instead of fighting over it.

Interestingly, when Megawide came to help the Cebu City

Government in cleaning up and beautifying the area around Compania Maritima as part of the Carbon Market redevelopment, the Regional Trial Court Branch 10, in a 15-page order that Judge Soliver Peras had penned, had granted the petition for a Writ of Preliminary Injunction the CPA had filed.

The actions taken by the CPA did not sit well with Rama and Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia.

According to historical accounts, the Companía Marítima building, or the Marítima Ruins, is a neoclassical heritage building built in 1910.

It was one of the first buildings constructed in the city's port area.

In July 2015, the CPA represented the State in the filing of a complaint for an injunction.

The State, through the Office of the Solicitor General, filed the complaint in a bid to recover the building, which sits on a 42,000-square-meter property behind the executive building of City Hall.

The Republic, represented by the CPA, claimed that the Compania Maritima Area forms part of the Baseport of Cebu, specifically Berths 28 and 33, and as part of the port. It belongs to the State and it is currently under the control of CPA.

CPA then guarded the area and halted the opening of the Puso Village which paved the way for Rama to declare war.

As if not enough, the CPA then went to collect parking fees over the Campania Maritima property and was later issued a show cause order by the City’s Business Processing and Licensing Office (BPLO) for operating a business without registration with Cebu City and without an approved Mayor’s Permit.

BPLO personnel also came to check the port area to check on the establishments around the port area for any violations.