BO-PK councilors push to void sale of SRP lots

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Three weeks prior to the assumption of the new administration in Cebu City, councilors under the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) party once again sought to void the sale of the 45-hectare property at the South Road Properties (SRP).

The 45-hectare property was sold to the SM-Ayala consortium and Filinvest Land Inc. in August 2015.

In a resolution, Councilor Sisino Andales asked the City Council to declare as void the P1.9 billion initial payment received by the Cebu City government from the SM-Ayala consortium and Filinvest for the property that has a total cost of P16 billion.

During the regular session on June 4, BO-PK councilors approved a resolution that rendered the lot sale of the 45-hectare property as void “ab initio” or void from the beginning.

City councilors voted 9-4, favoring the majority block, BO-PK.

Andales said that because this sale has been declared void by the council, the downpayment of which is also deemed void and unusable by the city government.

In this new resolution, the P1.6 billion downpayment, which has been deposited to the court following the refusal of outgoing Mayor Tomas Osmeña to accept it, cannot be used by the city government in any manner whatsoever.

The Partido Barug-PDP Laban councilors, allies of the incoming administration, strongly objected to the resolution arguing that the Court of Appeals’ affirmation to the validity of the sale on April 30, already confirms that the sale of the lots was legal.

The Court of Appeals (CA), on April 30, had denied the petition of a certain Romulo Torres who argued that the sale of the 45-hectare property to the SM-Ayala consortium in 2015 was illegal, affirming the sale.

Barug Councilor Raymond Garcia stated in session that the City Council is not a judicial body and cannot decide on the validity of a signed contract on its own.

“This attempt will make us look like clowns,” said Garcia in Cebuano.

Despite the oppositions of the Partido Barug councilors including Councilors Garcia, Jocelyn Pesquera, Joel Garganera, and James Anthony Cuenco, the resolution was passed.

Councilor Pesquera noted that this has been the fourth attempt of the current administration’s ally to void the sale.

Aside from the resolution on June 4, which sought to declare the sale of the 45-hectare property as void, the administration councilors on May 28 approved a resolution detailing the supposed “defects” of the sale.

The resolution said that the City did not have authority to enter into the Negotiated Sales on Installment and the Committee on Awards failed to comply with the standard government procedures for the posting of the public bidding in a public place.

Meanwhile on May 21, the administration councilors also passed two resolutions against the lot sale.

The first resolution recognized the authority and validity of the compromise agreement entered into by Osmeña and Torres who sued the members of the City Council in 2015 over the 45-hectare lot sale.

The second resolution declared and confirmed the Negotiated Sales on Installment in 2015 signed by the SM-Ayala Consortium and the Filinvest Group may be deemed void from the beginning for lack of prior approval and authority from the city Council.

Pesquera said the current administration councilors were too eager to make sure the sale was considered void when they know incoming Mayor Edgardo Labella will certainly respect the sale and approve the development of the lot.

Labella presided the council’s regular session as the incumbent vice mayor.

Labella, in previous statements, said he wants to continue the long-stalled development of the 45-hectare property since this could bring 10,000 jobs to the Cebuanos. / celr