Labella: Converting city condo into dorm for students legal

CEBU - The City Council’s committee on laws has no objection to the proposal of Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. to convert the Cebu City Condominium along Natalio Bacalso Avenue into a dormitory for less-privileged students from the city’s mountain barangays.

Pe has proposed that those who will be accommodated at the condominium would only be made to pay P350 a month as rent, which will cover the monthly cost of light and water and maintenance of the building. Only those who would miss to pay for three consecutive months would be made to leave.

The committee’s chairman, Councilor Edgardo Labella, said such move is “very laudable” because it will minimize the burden from the part of the parents in paying for costly boarding houses.

The P28- million city condominium along Natalio Bacalso Avenue across the Cebu City Medical Center was constructed during the stint of then mayor Alvin Garcia but the same has not served its purpose.

Instead of urban poor families, those currently staying at the dormitory are from the middle class, some of which even own cars. Many reportedly failed to pay rent, which prompted the city to resort to eviction.

Should the proposal materialize, Pe said an executive officer shall be designated to oversee the dormitory in coordination with the mayor to whom the executive officer shall render annual reports on the dormitory’s operation.

Labella, nevertheless, said that while there is no legal obstacle in converting the building as dormitory for the less privileged students, there is a need to hold a public hearing on the matter.

“Considering the nature of the proposed ordinance, a public hearing is deemed necessary to hear the views and comments of various stakeholders whether for or against the proposed measure,” Labella said. — Rene U. Borromeo/JMO (FREEMAN NEWS)