More than a year and a half ago, it would have been unthinkable for Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to get the Cebu City Council to approve an ordinance authorizing him to sell lots in the 300-hectare South Road Properties (SRP).
But that’s what loyalists of former mayor and congressman Tomas Osmeña thought when they went up against Rama, who was then assembling Team Rama in last year’s elections.
Rama’s re-election in 2013 refuted whatever doubts the Bando Osmena-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) had about the mayor’s ability to build his own power base to break Osmeña’s domination of the Cebu City political landscape.
Now we see a new effort to authorize Rama to sell SRP lots. What’s surprising is that the draft ordinance was supported by at least half of the Cebu City Council, including some from the BO-PK camp.
We can think of one reason behind this change of heart by the majority bloc. His name is BO-PK Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who authored the ordinance giving annual cash aid to indigent solo parents. Financial liquidity is not one of City Hall’s strengths right now, notwithstanding Mayor Rama’s gushing State of the City address in July.
Three other welfare obligations, more pressing, are lined up for funding – senior citizens aid of P12,000 per elderly, a subsidy for scholars, and the medical aid program for indigents.
Where will City Hall get funds for this?
“The depletion of revenue generated from previous SRP transactions would mean that the continuation of programs may be compromised,” said the council’s draft ordinance “Securing other sources of incomes is both necessary and urgent…”
Osmeña says the aggressive push for the sale of more SRP lots only means one thing: “There is no more money. There is a problem of cash flow.”
He and Mayor Rama fundamentally disagree on how to leverage the SRP for Cebu City’s profit. Rama wants to sell off chunks to the best bidder, the sooner the better. Osmeña wants to keep transactions to long-term leases, and wait for property values to rise when anchor investors SM and Filinvest complete their super-mall and subdivision projects at SRP in the next few years, before other lots are offered for sale.
As mayor, Rama is entitled to use his best judgment and choice of strategy to administer the SRP.
However, it would be worthwhile to revisit some of the caveats Osmeña emphasized in disposing of SRP lots. After all, he was the original champion of the SRP, who lobbied with the national government and Japanese creditors to let Cebu City be the country’s first local government to undertake a foreign-funded reclamation project of this scale.
First, SRP lots shouldn’t be sold to speculators. The land should be used for enterprises that generate real business growth. Second, no warehouses or storage facilities allowed. These would eventually be unproductive and be dependent on payments from renters.
These and other factors should be considered by Rama, whom we hope won’t use the SRP as just a cash cow for his administration.