"Real 93-1 beneficiaries" say: Public hearing was staged

CEBU, Philippines - Governor Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday said that they are not dealing with urban poor families supporting the proposed land swap deal between the City Hall and Cebu Province.

That, as presidents of homeowners associations occupying the province-owned lots yesterday questioned the validity of the public hearing last Wednesday at barangay Luz on the proposal of the City Council to revive the landswap deal.

At least 3,000 urban poor individuals reportedly living in the province-owned lots attended the public hearing conducted by the City Council in Barangay Luz about the revival of the land swap last Wednesday.

Evangeline Abejo, Secretary of Cebu City Urban Poor Solidarity Commission, said that those who attended the public hearing mostly were not 93-1 beneficiaries.

Some are from Labangon and other barangays that are not even part of 93-1.

“So klaro kaayo na fabricated ilang gibuhat. The public hearing yesterday was not fair,” she said.

Garcia said that those who raised their concerns were not the ones who signed the memorandum of agreement on the sale of province-owned lots previously known as 93-1.

Garcia earlier announced that the revival of the land swap proposal is irrelevant considering that the Capitol has already found a solution to the issue with the help of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“Itimbang-timbang unsa’y motivation ug unsa’y kamatuoran nianang mga nanulti kay katong mga nanulti wa man to sila’y labot, unsaon man nila pag ingon,” Garcia said. (People should weigh things and find out the motivations and the truth to what they are saying because those who are now speaking about the issue are actually not involved in the matter.)

Luz Barangay Captain Ryan Tante and other urban poor leaders said many residents cannot afford to pay the high cost of the lots in a short period set by the province. Councilor Alvin Dizon, chairman of the City Council’s committee on housing, also said most of the urban poor occupants cannot afford to pay the high cost of the lots in a period of six months.

Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas R. Osmeña and former councilor Hilario Davide III also dipped their fingers into the issue by saying that if current officials will not act, the two of them will do once they get elected next year.

The Capitol officials are directly negotiating with the urban poor families for the purchase of their lots. The families can buy the lots directly from the Capitol or avail of group housing programs through Pag-IBIG and Community Mortgage Program.

The Provincial Board last Monday already authorized Garcia to execute and sign in behalf of the Province of Cebu the MOA for the sale of 13 remaining lots to respective homeowners associations.

The lots are located in barangays Busay, Mabolo, Capitol Site, Kasambagan and Tejero, all in Cebu City, with different appraised values.

The lot appraised value is pegged at P2,826 per square meter as the lowest and P11,150 per square meter as the highest.

Yesterday, some irate 93-1 beneficiaries told reporters yesterday that many of them oppose the landswap deal because it will just spoil the current negotiation between the beneficiaries and the Capitol that seem to be going well, they said.

“Di mi ganahan og landswap kay di mi ganahan nga ang negotiation magkagubot na sad,” said AJ Castillo, President of the Skyview Park Homeowners Association in Busay. (We don’t want ongoing negotiations to be muddled by the revival of the landswap.)

Castillo said that the negotiation has gone a long way, in fact, many HOAs were already provided with a price for their lot.

Only the HOAs in barangay Luz, apparently, has yet to negotiate with the Capitol for the price of the lot they have to pay the province.

“Naa na’y presyo sa ilang luna ang kasagaran. In fact, ang ubang HOAs naka-pirma na og MOA sa probinsya,” Castillo said. At least three HOAs in Busay and Kalunasan that are 93-1 beneficiaries have signed MOA with the Province and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Mary Jane Quinto, President of Lahug Riverside Homeowners Association who have also signed a MOA with the Province said that their HOA is against the revival of the landswap deal because it will confuse their members.

“Dili mi mosugot ani kay makahatag ra ni og kalibog sa tagsa-tagsa nga miyembro. And mga nitala sa MOA apil ang atong Gobernadora, and Bise Presidente ug ang atong Mayor. Dili man siguro ni binuang diba?” she said. (The revival of the landswap issue will only confuse our members. Those who signed the agreement include the governor and the vice governor so for sure, there’s nothing wrong with the agreement?)

Cirillo Bugtai, another 93-1 beneficiary, said that he and others in their barangay were already given the price and they are amenable to it. He said they will have to pay P11,000 per square meter for their lot which is reasonable enough since the current market value of the lot in Tejero would reach P20,000 per square meter.

Cirillo and other HOAs were supposedly scheduled to sign a MOA yesterday but it was postponed due to the busy schedule of the Vice President. They will sign their MOA on August 28.

Castillo said that there were a lot of false information reported yesterday by those in favor of the landswap.

“We would like to clarify these false information. Una sa tanan, dili tinuod na six months ra ang gihatag sa amoa nga panahon aron makabayad,” she said. (It’s not true we are only given six months to pay.)

Castillo said that the six months is the time to process with the financing institution the payment to the province. It will be the financing institution, either Pag-IBIG fund of Social Housing and Finance (SHF), that will pay the province. The beneficiaries will then pay the financing institution depending on the terms that will be agreed upon. - THE FREEMAN