Cebu City Councilor Raymond Garcia (left) with Councilor Joel Garganera (right) (CDN FILE)
IF an ordinance was required to sell another portion of the South Road Properties (SRP), then the City Council should also pass an ordinance to bolster the land swap deal between Cebu City Hall and the Capitol which also includes an SRP lot.
City Councilor Raymond Garcia cited this in a resolution he passed in the council, saying this will “protect the 5,000 families affected by the land swap deal” to effect a valid transfer of the said property.”
Last December, Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) for a land swap deal between the the city and province to resolve the long standing 93-1 land dispute.
Part of the land swap deal was for the city to give a 2.5-hectare area of the SRP, among other properties, to the provincial government in exchange for the province-owned lots located within Cebu City that are occupied by settlers.
Back then, the MOA was referred to the City Council and was approved through a resolution. Now, Garcia is saying that the approval was “irregular.”
He cited Section 4 of City Ordinance No. 2332 which states that any sale, disposal, transfer, or other conveyances, of any of the properties in the SRP should have prior approval of the City Council.
This approval, as just recently agreed on by the City Council, should be in the form of the ordinance. Last month, the City Council approved an ordinance by Councilor Hanz Abella authorizing the mayor to sell another three hectares of the SRP.
Garcia, who used to head the committee on laws, rendered a committee report stating that the sale should only be covered by a resolution in order to expedite the process.
But Abella and Mayor Osmeña insisted that an ordinance was needed in order to supplement City Ordinance 2332.
They also cited an opinion from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that a resolution cannot amend an ordinance. Garcia’s resolution also asked the mayor to enter into a new agreement with the province.
Garcia’s resolution was approved during the council’s regular session last week.
But Councilor Joy Pesquera abstained as she insisted on the original proposal that regardless of which property in the SRP, a resolution was enough.
During the council’s discussion, Councilor Abella said he is amenable to Garcia’s proposal. He said he is also planning to file an ordinance regarding the 93-1 land swap deal.
Sought for comment, Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez, the mayor’s executive assistant, also said they are agreeable to the proposal and that they will work it out within this week.
Fernandez said the MOA approved by the City Council was just like a will that states the city will give part of the SRP to the province.