Osmeña dares Capitol anew to sue him over city zoo

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña once again challenged the Cebu Provincial Government to file a case against the city for its plan to continue the development of the city zoo in Barangay Kalunasan.

This after the Cebu Provincial attorney Marino Martinquilla has cautioned the mayor and businessman developer Robert Yupangco against the planned development of the disputed facility.

Martinquilla has written letters to remind Osmeña and Yupangco, the businessman tapped by the mayor to develop the zoo, that the lot where the facility sprawls belongs to the province and the agreement between the city and Capitol for the use of the property was already terminated last year.

“Why not, let them file the case. Sige lang sila’g estorya, I am waiting for a court order if they want to get it back,” Osmeña said.

A memorandum of agreement (MOA) between Yupangco and the City Government will be forged soon to officially start the upgrade of the Cebu City Zoo.

Yupangco, the owner of Yamaha musical instruments, is also the man behind the famous Zoobic Zafari located at Subic Bay in Olongapo City. He is also the one who is supplying tigers to Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, who is also a good friend of Osmeña.

Osmeña earlier said that once they have signed a memorandum of agreement, Yupangco’s group would be providing everything for the zoo, including its renovation and animals to be placed there.

He said the city will earn from the zoo operation because there will be entrance fees and most of the visitors will be people from the province.

On October 14, 1963, the Cebu provincial government under then Cebu governor Francisco Remotigue donated two parcels of lot to the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP).

These are lot 1298 with an area of 222,110 square meters and an adjacent lot of 3,160 square meters also known as lot 1303.

A portion of lot 1298 with an area of 70,000 square meters that was excluded from the donation was set aside for a city zoo.

Last year the Provincial Board rescinded the agreement seeing that the lot in Kalunasan will be of better use if built with the Women’s Crisis Center. — Ferliza C. Contratista/WAB   (THE FREEMAN)