Governor worried Filinvest project delayed by a year, wants wall demolished

This wall in IT Park is known to be formerly the other side of BBRC. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Two of Cebu’s biggest real estate developers are fighting over a concrete wall that separates the well-established I.T. Park from the site of Filinvest’s proposed P6 billion Cebu Cyberzone.

Both areas are located across each other on Geonzon Street, where Filinvest is clamoring for “access” to its site, a narrow 1.2 hectare strip owned by the Province of Cebu, its business partner.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III yesterday appealed to Ayala managers of Cebu I.T. Park to demolish the wall, something they refuse to do since it would “breach property boundaries” and result in rival Filinvest “gaining undue enrichment and the benefits of access to Cebu IT Park at the expense of our locators and investors.”

Davide said there was a need to speed up the province’s joint venture project with Filinvest, a four-tower complex for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which is behind schedule.

The launch of the first tower, slated for March last year, “is very delayed”, he told reporters.

Davide said he has spoken with representatives of both corporate entities, Filinvest and the Ayala-led Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp. (CPVDC) but no compromise has been reached yet.

“We know this road is a public road, it has to be open to everyone. All should have access to that,” he said.

The access he refers to is not passage through W. Geonzon Road itself, which is a present route for jeepneys.

What Filinvest is eyeing is the easy access for vehicles to enter their property from the sides of the road, which is blocked by a perimeter fence of CPVDC.

However, there are two other access points to the Filinvest project site, including Salinas Drive, which is outside the 27-hectare I.T. Park, according to Ayala corporate spokesperson Jeanette Japzon.

She said it was unfair to blame CPVDC for delayed construction.

“We need to enforce our boundaries not only for business and security purposes, but to comply with our PEZA certification as well, which is one of the reasons for investors to come to Cebu and locate in Cebu I.T. Park,” said Japzon, who noted that access to W. Geonzon Street was not part of the Terms of Reference of the bidding of the project from the start.

She said this “just shows the real intention and hidden agenda of Filinvest, which is not largely the public good, but the business interest of encroaching our property.”

A conference is set on July 25 by Cebu City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo with both developers after Filinvest asking Mayor Michael Rama’s help to demolish the “illegal” wall .

Filinvest vice president for Visayas and Mindanao Tristan Las Marias said three notices of illegal construction were issued for the wall by City Hall in November last year for not having a building permit from the Office of the Building Official.

According to CPVDC, however, the wall was not a new construction, but a reinforcement of the existing wall in place when the area was still occupied by the Cebu City jail and a police drug rehabilitation center.

“We have a joint venture agreement with Filinvest,” said Governor Davide.

“That’s why that wall should be torn down so that the contractors of Filinvest can enter. What we want is for the good of everybody. This is a project for the province and this will help Cebu much,” he said.

In 2012, the Province of Cebu under the administration of former Cebu governor and now 3rd District Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia and Filinvest entered into a joint venture agreement to allow the company to build a BPO complex in the 1.2-hectare province-owned lot under a build-operate-transfer scheme.

Ownership of the land remains with Cebu province.

Since breaking ground in May 2012, Filinvest has been paying a monthly rent to the Capitol of P600,000.

Once the complex starts operations, Filinvest will also have to return two percent of its monthly revenue to Capitol or P500,000, whichever is higher.

Based on records from the province’s treasury, the province has received P7.534 million in rent from Filinvest in 2013 and P2.935 million from January to May this year.

Davide said the Capitol has the responsibility to grant access to Filinvest in the particular area.
“We have an undertaking under our joint venture agreement with Filinvest that we’ll have to give access to speed up the project and avoid delay. That is our obligation to them under the agreement,” he said.

“The boundaries are very clear so I don’t think that Filinvest or the province would encroach in the property of CPVDC,” he added.

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