Osmeña hits back at Sepulveda on 93-1 lot

CEBU, Philippines – “He has a short memory or a low IQ or a combination of both.”

This was what Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said on Cebu provincial consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda over the latter’s suggestion that the mayor better go after non-paying city residents of provincial lots instead of running after schools and hospitals.

Sepulveda was referring to 5,000 families that occupy the Capitol’s 93-1 which owed the city more than P100 million in taxes.

“That is not my problem, it’s the province’s, but remember there was a time when I offered to solve that problem through the land swap deal, wala sya kahinumdum ana,” Osmeña said.

He said under the land swap deal, the city offers P450 million worth of properties in exchange of the 93-1 lots and to pay for the P190 million in uncollected taxes from its residents.

However the deal did not push through.

“He wants me to collect taxes for them, sure, why not, I’ll collect as long as they (Capitol) liberate them (lot occupants),” Osmeña said.

Osmeña also said Sepulveda better should instruct Cebu third district Representative Pablo John Garcia to furnish the Ombudsman a copy of the joint venture agreement between Taguig City and RII Builders which, according to the lawmaker, was way better than the one between the Cebu City and Filinvest Land Inc.

“Furnish them now so that I can answer them, why are they hiding it,” Osmeña said.

Sepulveda the other day thanked Osmeña for furnishing the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit (COA) documents of an inventory made by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) of the donated steel scraps from the South Road Properties (SRP) which reportedly used in the construction of Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).

“Let us see if they have evidence then we will not pay WT basin lang og nokus nokus napod na nila,” Sepulveda said according to a television report. — Ferliza C. Contratista/LPM (THE FREEMAN)