To settle matter for good Mike to meet Gwen on 93-1

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is willing to meet with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia one-on-one to discuss the fate of the people living in lots covered by by Provincial Ordinance 93-1.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has one wish for the beneficiaries of the Provincial Ordinance, who could lose their homes if City Hall and Capitol cannot agree on how to resolve the matter.

Majority of the beneficiaries of the ordinance that awarded the lots to the occupants provided that they pay Capitol, have failed to do so.

They have been threatened with expulsion when Garcia started checking the assets of the province hoping to recover the land it owns so that these may be put to better use.

Rama said that he wants these people to sleep soundly at night knowing that they won’t be losing their homes.

“As a mayor, it is my responsibility to take an active role in the resolution of this particular case. So I am presenting a possibility of me and the governor having a one-on-one talk to discuss the matter,” Rama said during his news conference yesterday.

His plan, he said, shall complement the efforts of the National Government to help 93-1 beneficiaries who are threatened to be evicted from the lots that they are occupying.

Of the 4,364 families occupying Capitol lots covered by the ordinance, only 1,445 have fully paid, 1,188 have partially paid and 1,731 did not bother to pay at all.

The province almost agreed in the previous offer of the city to swap land, but Garcia changed her mind after she was offended by the remarks of Rama in a privilege speech at the City Council when he was still the vice mayor.

Rama, in his speech, said that the swapping of city lots at the North Reclamation Area with the lots of the province was like giving Capitol an easy way to get out of the mess.

He then called the Capitol as “dawat limpyo,” which Capitol officials tagged as an insult.

Mayor Rama explained that the privilege speech happened a long time ago and when he starts talking with the Governor he no longer wants to be reminded, who was at fault.

He said that he will discuss with the governor what the city believes is best for the beneficiaries, the provincial government and the city government.

Rama wants the meeting to take place soon.

“Why wait for next year? I want that when the New Year comes, there is already a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to cut this matter because it has been dragged on and on for so long,” Rama said.

If he fails to settle the matter before 2011, he said that he will definitely make sure that the issue will be put to rest before his term ends in 2013.

Earlier this year, Garcia had already expressed intention that she is open to talks about the matter.

She just asked the city government to remove the signs put up inside the South Road Properties that she found very offensive as these taunted Capitol’s controversial purchase of the Balili property in Naga amounting to close to P100 million. A huge portion of the land in Naga was found to be underwater.

The signs were put up at the height of the campaign period for the elections last May.

These had the words, “Please dim your lights. This is not the province,” “Your provincial taxes at work!,” “This way to S.U.P. (South Underwater Properties” and “A proud blunder of Gov. Gwen Garcia: ‘I’m Sorry’” emblazoned.

When sought for comment, Rep. Tomas Osmeña of the Cebu City South District, said that there is nothing new with this plan of Rama to meet Garcia.

“Nothing new, he is always in touch with the governor through Mariquita Yeung. But Mike cannot officially take a stand for the city government without approval of the council, which he refuses to consult since he became mayor,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña said that he will not tell Rama what to do because he will only be accused of meddling. Instead, he trusts that the council will do its job to participate in the negotiation.

“The city council can tame an ego tripping mayor. I am not reminding Mayor Rama. I’m just informing those observers, who are interested to know what my thoughts are.

“The rest can just ignore me because they are upset by my right to talk,” Osmeña said.

President Benigno Aquino III and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo are scheduled to discuss, among other things, the issue about Ordinance 93-1.

Robredo has attended a number of dialogues with the 93-1 beneficiaries and has initiated talks with Garcia. Both have initially discussed various possibilities, but the governor clarified that talks have not officially opened yet.

Recovery of Lot

Capitol has formally filed a civil case against Langub Kalunasan Multi-Purpose Cooperative for the recovery of possession and ownership of the province-owned lot it is occupying.

Garcia, representing the Province of Cebu, asked the court to order the cooperative to immediately vacate the portion of the lot occupied as their office building and in case of refusal to issue a writ of demolition.

Garcia also asked the court to award the Capitol the amount of P10,000 as litigation fee and P1,000 in the form of rentals on the premises to be reckoned from the date of filing the case.

Sometime in 2003, the cooperative allegedly constructed an office in the lot with an area of 9,213 square meters at sitio Langub, Kalunasan, Cebu City without consent from Capitol.

Again in 2009, defendant allegedly dug a deep well near the said building still without the consent of the Capitol, but it was stopped upon the intervention of the provincial real properties protection task force of the office of the governor.

Last October 18, Capitol sent a demand letter to the cooperative to voluntarily vacate their office building but until now, defendant did not pay attention to the demand letter.

The Regional Trial Court has earlier stopped Capitol from demolishing the cooperative building.

The cooperative, headed by Antonio Canoy, was formed to address the water problems in sitio Langub.

It built a two-story building and a deep well within a Province-owned lot in the area.

While the Cebu Provincial Government, as owner of the lot, can assert its right by demolishing the building as cited in Article 429 of the New Civil Code, it can only be exercised at the time of actual or threatened dispossession.

The lot was sold by then Cebu governor, now Rep. Pablo Garcia (Cebu, third district) in February 2003 to address the water problem of the residents in the area.

A Provincial Board (PB) resolution authorized Garcia to sell the lot. —/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)