Rama gets green light to sell portions of SRP
The Cebu City Council yesterday passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to negotiate and sell portions of the South Road Properties (SRP).
Yesterday’s voting was tense as two councilors who authored the resolution withdrew their sponsorship of the measure.
Seven councilors allied with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) —Eugenio Gabuya, Alvin Arcilla, Nestor Archival, Sisinio Andales, Nida Cabrera, Leah Japson and Alvin Dizon—voted against the resolution saying the plan needs to be further studied.
Four BO-PK councilors—Gerardo Carillo, Richard Osmeña, Noel Wenceslao and Roberto Cabarrubias—voted to pass the resolution.
Except for Councilor Philip Zafra, Rama’s allies Dave Tumulak, Mary Ann delos Santos, James Cuenco and Nendell Abella also voted to pass the resolution.
Revenue
Archival said there is no need to rush the approval of the resolution when negotiations on the sale of SRP lots to SM Prime Holdings and Filinvest Land, Inc. during the administration of Mayor Tomas Osmeña took months to finalize.
“Why are we such in a hurry to authorize the mayor? Are we already bankrupt that we have to hurry (in making new sales of the SRP)?” Andales asked.
Carillo insisted that the time has come for the city to again sell lots in the SRP to generate P12 billion revenue for the city.
“This is not a transfer of affection. I am with the opinion that the Sanguniang Panlungsod can always set aside political color for the greater good of the Cebuanos,” Carillo said in defending his vote for the resolution.
Rama proposed to dispose three parcels of land at the SRP totaling 19 hectares.
They consist of the 26 hectare lot B where the San Pedro Calungsod templete is located and portions of lots 7 and 17 beside the Filinvest development projects.
Carillo said SM Prime Holdings, Filinvest, Robinsons Land and Megaworld signified their interest to acquire land at the SRP.
He said the city is prepared to sell 45 more hectares of the 300-hectare SRP to raise additional funds.
Carillo said the funds can help pay off the P3 billion balance of Cebu City’s loan with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in order to allocate more funds for basic services.
While the seven BO-PK councilors agreed on the city’s need to make new sales of SRP lots, Gabuya said they want to be clarified on some issues.
Floor prices
These include the cost of the property for disposal, its location and whether or not disposal was authorized amid the existence of city ordinance 2332.
The ordinance passed on July 18 last year, authorized unsolicited proposal as the preferred mode of disposing SRP.
During the deliberations Zafra and Gabuya, who were supposed to be co-authors of the resolution, withdrew their sponsorship.
Arcilla said the city should first consult with a private realtor before they fix the floor price for SRP lots to be sold.
Carillo said the approved resolution fixed a floor price of P20,000 per square meters which is higher that its upraised value of only P16,000 per square meters.
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