Centcom wants to give 35-ha. lot to province

The Armed Forces of the Philippines-Central Command wants its remaining 35-hectare lot in barangay Apas to be included in the 80-hectare lot that the provincial government is planning to develop for economic enterprises.

As this developed, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia nevertheless assured the "existing and recognized settlers" of a portion of the Centcom properties that she will soon sit down with them, particularly with the members of the Barangay Apas Community Association and that Capitol will soon come up with an acceptable agreement for both sides.

"We will look into that because there is a presidential proclamation for existing residents. But we intend to recognize their existence and hope to be able to arrive at a working solution for this," she said.

There is an ongoing negotiation between the provincial, government and the AFP-Centcom on the plan of the Capitol to recover its 80.96-hectare property previously donated to the latter but which do not serve its original purpose.

In relation to this, the AFP-Centcom reportedly wanted its 35-hectare lot in the area to be included in the Capitol's plan to bid out the 80 hectares for development of the said properties for commercial purpose. The said 80-hectare Capitol-owned property traverses through the 35-hectare property of AFP.

Nevertheless, the governor said the priority right now is to help the AFP-Centcom find a relocation site, as the latter wanted a much bigger area that belongs to the national government but which is still located in Cebu, as the president would prefer that Centcom is retained here in the province.

On October 12, 1959, the Province of Cebu then under the leadership of former mayor Jose Briones donated 47 parcels of lots, covering 80.69 hectares to the AFP on a condition that it was to be used exclusively for military purposes, else the property would revert to the Province of Cebu.

However, of the 47 parcels only 14 parcels are used for military purposes and actually occupied by Centcom headquarters in barangay Apas while the remaining 33 lots are now occupied by some military personnel as a residential site.

Of these 33 parcels, 18 parcels of lots or 32.37 hectares are covered by the Presidential Proclamation No. 409 signed by President Gloria Arroyo in June 2003 for its socialized housing program to benefit existing settlers covered in a latest census conducted by the Cebu City Government, being the lead agency in the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) for the said project.

The governor yesterday announced she has already tasked provincial attorney Marino Mantiquilla and Capitol consultant on revenue generation and compliance Rory John Sepulveda, as point men on the side of the Capitol in the ongoing negotiation between the Capitol and AFP-Centcom, specifically in hammering out the terms of reference of the memorandum of agreement that both parties are finalizing.

"Can you imagine a single piece of city property, that big, available for development. But as I said and as I pointed out very, very clearly in my SOPA, as far as practicable, we are no longer selling nor donating any of our provincial properties," she said.

"Instead we will develop these as economic enterprises in order to earn more revenues for the province because this will translate to more projects and more programs for the Cebuanos," she added. - Cristina C. Birondo