Capitol to sue city if deal to develop zoo continues

CEBU, Philippines - Provincial legal officer Marino Martinquilla warned the city government that Capitol will not hesitate to file legal action should the city pushes through with a planned deal with Yupangco Holdings Corporation to develop the Cebu City Zoo, which is situated on a province-owned lot in barangay Kalunasan.

A lawyer of the city government earlier opined that there is “nothing objectionable” to the Memorandum of Agreement entered into between the city and Yupangco Holdings Corp., for a planned development of the Cebu City Zoo.

But Martinquilla said yesterday the city and Yupangco Holdings do not have the legal permission to use or develop the seven-hectare property because it is rightfully owned by the province.

Martinquilla said Capitol will send a formal letter to Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Yupangco Holdings to remind them of a resolution that the Provincial Board passed last year, which withdrew and terminated the authority of the Cebu City Zoo to use a portion of lot 1298 consisting 7,000 square meters, which is owned by the province of Cebu.

The Board passed Resolution 3679-2008 on September 1, 2008.

Martinquilla said they first informed the city regarding the resolution in a letter sent to Osmeña October last year.

Likewise, the Boy Scout of the Philippines and the provincial government have signed Memorandum of Understanding for the return of the donated lots to the province and for the relocation of BSP’s campsite to another area.

Under Resolution 3679-2008, the province said that the area occupied by the Cebu City Zoo is no longer feasible and proper for a zoo, as it is now a thickly populated residential area. Likewise, several government institutions have been established in the area like the Cebu Provincial Rehabilitation Center and the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center.

Its operation has reportedly hampered the construction of the women’s center, which is a capitol’s project.

Martinquilla said it is very unlikely that the province would allow the development of the zoo, considering that it already terminated the zoo’s authority to operate. — Jessica Ann R. Pareja/JMO   (THE FREEMAN)