Capitol offers DA-7 lot for donation to DOJ

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu provincial government is offering a 3,000-square meter lot located in Cebu City for the construction of a new building of the Department of Justice.

This was disclosed by Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III after receiving last week a letter from former Justice secretary now Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa requesting for lot donation from the Capitol.

Caguioa delivered the request days before he was appointed by Malacañang last Friday as the newest associate justice of the High Tribunal, replacing retired Associate Justice Martin Villarama  Jr.

“We are willing to give the lot in DA (Department of Agriculture),” Davide told reporters yesterday.

He was referring to the province-owned property located along M. Velez Street which was occupied by the DA-7. The governor has yet to submit his reply to the DOJ expressing the interest of the province.

He likewise asked the DOJ to let the Capitol utilize the Marcelo B. Fernan Hall of Justice. The four-story courthouse was declared unsafe by the Office of the Building Officials following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that jolted Cebu and Bohol in 2013.

All Cebu City courts are now holding transactions at Qimonda IT Center at the North Reclamation Area upon the order of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno. But the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office continues to occupy the left wing of the ground floor of the building despite the recommendation to abandon it.

The building sits on the province property located behind the Executive Building at the Capitol compound.

Davide said the province is considering retrofitting the building or construct a new one once the structure is turned over to the provincial government.

Capitol intends to utilize the courthouse as extension of the executive building to house more offices apart from the high-rise structure that would be built to replace the old Bureau of Agriculture- Extension (Baex) situated beside the executive building.

The Baex building was also deemed unfit for occupancy after suffering damage from the earthquake.  (FREEMAN)