Tom O: 93-1 occupants will receive Christmas gift this December

OCCUPANTS of 93-1 lots will receive a Christmas gift next month when the Cebu City government and Cebu province will sign memorandum of agreement for the land swap deal.

This developed after Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña confirmed Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III’s announcement that they would likely solve the 93-1 lot problem this December.

“There’s always some final changes, maliit na adjustment, some requests that we want to accommodate, but basically it is 90 percent complete,” Osmeña said.

Earlier this week, Acting Executive Assistant Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez and former councilor and now consultant to the mayor Alvin Dizon met with Governor Davide to discuss the agreement.
In a phone interview with Fernandez, he said they are on the final stage of the document.

“We hope that in the first week of December, mapirmahan na,” he said.

He said that next week, on Monday, they will attend another meeting to review the documents.

Osmeña, on the other hand, accepted full responsibility for the agreement and said this time, there would be no way for former mayor Michael Rama to question and stop the deal.

Osmeña was referring to the deal with then governor Gwendolyn Garcia that was not realized due to the opposition of then vice mayor Rama who questioned and found the deal disadvantageous to the city.

The MOA of the 93-1 lot would still have to go through the City Council.

“I am confident that the City Council will commit political suicide if they go against it,” Osmeña said.

Provincial Ordinance No. 93-1 covers 51 hectares of province-owned land that are occupied by city residents.

These are located in Barangays Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Kalunasan, Busay, Luz, Lahug, Mabolo, Apas, Lorega, Kasambagan and Tejero.

During the May polls, resolving the 93-1 lot dispute has been part of Osmeña’s campaign promise.