Capitol reacquires 18 lots from AFP
The Cebu provincial government has formalized its re-acquisition of at least 18 lots at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Visayas Command Center (AFP-Viscom) headquarters in Barangay Apas, Cebu City by signing a memorandum of agreement on Monday, February 28.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia signed the MOA with Department of National Defense (DND) Senior Undersecretary/Office-in-Charge Carlito Galvez Jr. at the Mactan– Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City.
Others present were Cebu Vice Governor Hilario Davide III and AFP Chief-of-Staff General Andres Centino, who signed as witnesses. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. also attended the activity.
Under the agreement, the Capitol is allowed to keep custody of at least 19 lots occupied by the Viscom.
The DND agreed to turn over a total of 19 titles, 18 of which are for safekeeping until the legal issues regarding Presidential Proclamation (PP) 409 and the occupants of the lots are settled with finality.
PP 409 was issued by the former President, now Pampanga congresswoman Gloria MacapagalArroyo, declaring the 30 hectares of the area, currently AFP Viscom situated in Barangay Apas, as a socialized housing site
After the issuance of the said proclamation, the residents in the area were waiting for the DND to give up its claim on the lots that would allow them to buy the properties that are spread across five sitios.
Meanwhile, one of the 13 remaining lots will be turned over upon complete functional replication of the DND-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) affected structures and facilities.
Capitol will regain the 12 remaining land titles once the relocation and replication of the buildings, structures, and facilities of affected Viscom units in their respective identified relocation sites are completed.
To recall, on October 12, 2009, the Province and DND inked a MOA to establish reciprocal commitments on the relocation and functional replication of the buildings/structures/ facilities, which includes roadnets, electric and water facilities of the Central Command (now Viscom) headquarters, and its tenants and supporting units.
In 2007, Viscom's relocation from its present location at Camp Lapulapu, Cebu City, and its replication elsewhere had been agreed upon when the Capitol vowed to allot P1 billion for the military facility's replication, as stated by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) they signed.
But in the MOA signed Monday, both parties agreed that the provisions regarding the swapping of certain donated and expropriated real properties under the 2009 MOA could no longer be carried out given the conditions stipulated in the deed of donation and expropriation proceedings, in case of non-use or use other than military purposes, ownership of the real properties would automatically revert to the original owners.
It was also agreed that Cebu Province would jointly assume the obligation with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on the lots covered under Presidential Proclamation 409, s-2003 (PP409), including dealing and negotiating with the informal settlers of these lots.
The newly-signed MOA required the creation of a Joint Technical Working Group to address the concerns of the occupants as identified and listed by the DHSUD of the lots covered by PP409.
The 80-hectare lot in Camp Lapu-Lapu was originally donated by the Cebu Province to the then 3rd Military Area on October 12, 1959, granting a condition that it would be used for military purposes only.
But former governor Pablo Garcia, Gwen's father, revoked the donation in 1995, as it was found out that only 14 lot portions were used for military purposes, and the remaining areas served as a golf driving range and residential sites for military personnel and informal settlers, among other uses.
In 2005, Gwen, freshly hailed as the new Cebu governor, filed an ejection case against Centcom to reclaim the lots and sought intervention from the Executive Branch by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with former defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. in 2007.
After almost 30 years of continuous legal battle, DND finally agreed and started to turn over 17.5 hectares out of the 80 hectares that covered an initial 16 parcels of lots in the area on October 3 last year.