Atan-Mary Ann tandem: SRP could reap millions for Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Opposition leaders Jonathan Guardo and Mary Ann de los Santos recently bared a masterplan to maximize Cebu’s potential and reap high revenues and increase employment opportunities specifically focusing on South Road Properties (SRP).

Guardo and de los Santos, who both expressed their intention to run for public office in next year’s election, vowed to professionalize the management of SRP by creating a “South Reclamation Project Management Authority” that will be composed of government officials, technocrats, and even ordinary experts.

De Los Santos claimed that because of the existing conflicts of the current Cebu City government with other Local Government Units (LGUs), the City has lost significant revenue generation.

The 300-hectare SRP should have already reap revenue for the City considering that it has already attracted huge investors, but because of non-transparent management it has remained idle, while the tax payers are paying at least P600 million to P700 million annual to pay the project’s debt interest.

A professional project management authority should be installed in order for SRP to take off, and pursue transparent negotiations with investors, thereby contributing actual revenue to the City.

Through their campaign dubbed “Our Cebu City”, the two opposition leaders dished out their own economic development master-plan for the City, including the realization of un-finished projects such as the tourism and commercial destination “Ciudad” in Banilad, and the long-overdue proposed LRT and MRT projects of the City, creating a pro-active Cebu Tourism Council, sustainable plan for BPO and IT sector, and expanding the investment promotion arm of the City.

Earlier, Cebu Investments and Promotions Center (CIPC), the agency that is currently commissioned to promote SRP, declared that Cebu City is seen to become the richest Local Government Unit (LGU) in the Philippines, as soon as it will start accommodating operating locators.

CIPC managing director Joel Mari S. Yu said that the City not be depending on its revenue on the lot sales and lease of the 300-hectare economic zone—SRP, but it will make money out of the percentages it can generate in utility and other service providers.

For power demand alone, the City government stands to get 22 to 24 centavos in every kilowatt consumed by the locators, as franchise fee. In water consumption, SRP management gets P5 to P10 per cubic meter sold.

SRP is projected to consume 99 megawatt in the next nine years for commercial operation.

In telecommunications, SRP will get six percent of the gross income of all telecom companies providing services at the SRP locators.

SRP also gets about five percent in every gross income generated by other service providers, such as security agencies, or other contractors.

According to Yu, SRP will become Cebu's "source of wealth". "We will be making enough money."

Yu however, acknowledged that one of the primary problems that keeping the SRP from taking off, is the establishment of a Special Purpose Corporation (SPC) that supposedly will manage the City government-owned zone.

According to Yu, it is very important for the Cebu City government to establish a SPC, as investors are demanding to deal with a privately-run corporation to make sure that SRP will be insulated by political interference.

Initially, the SRP is expected to generate at least 50,000 jobs, if investors will start to operate their businesses at the area.