Cebu City seeks to cement Compania Maritima ‘ownership’
THE Cebu City Government has applied for a title for the disputed Compania Maritima property in a bid to strengthen its claim of ownership.
Lawyer Jade Ponce said City Hall’s Land Management Council (LMC) is complying with the documentary requirements to support its application filed with the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“Compania Maritima and the surrounding area are unregistered lands of the public domain, not owned by anybody,” Ponce said.
“Between an LGU, that has the authority and jurisdiction to govern its territory, and a special body with limited functions, Cebu City has the best position to register the properties in its name and in behalf of all Cebuanos and future generations,” he added.
The Cebu Port Authority (CPA)has gone to court to assert its claim of ownership of the premises of the Compania Maritima building behind City Hall.
The CPA, through the solicitor general’s office, recently asked the Regional Trial Court to nullify a tax declaration for the property under the name of the Cebu city government, and to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping City Hall from using the property.
Ponce said the area near the Senior Citizens Park is already being used by the city government.
“The LGU should be the priority in ownership of the property because the LGU is the chief administrator of its territories. The state is only next to the LGU,” he said.
Ponce said they started working on the city’s land title application last year.
“The DENR and the Registry of Deeds are part of the Land Management Council. They already know that we intend to acquire the title to the property. We are working on the documents which will take a long time,” he said.
DENR 7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Ponce said City Hall is conducting surveys of the property and notifying adjacent lot owners of its land title application.
City Hall plans to develop the property, which is situated near the viaduct leading to the South Road Properties, into an open space and park.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
