Filinvest secures PEZA greenlight; Rama wants end to dispute
A ONE-WEEK deadline to find a compromise ends tomorrow.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he expects rival developers Filinvest Land Inc. and the Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp. (CPVDC) to settle their dispute over W. Geonzon Street and the wall separating their two properties by then.
If not, Rama said the city government will have to intervene.
The mayor said this a day after Filinvest revealed that their application for IT Center status was approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on Aug. 9.
Their application covered their 1.23-hectare Filinvest Cebu Cyberzone Project in barangay Apas.
CPVDC earlier said they don’t want to demolish the perimeter wall in W. Geonzon Street in order to protect their boundaries as part of the conditions of their PEZA status.
Certified
With PEZA approval of both adjacent project sites – the proposed Filinvest Cebu Cyberzone and the larger I.T Park, it remains to be seen whether this will contribute to a settlement.
Rama reminded Filinvest and Ayala not to “take the people hostage” and to take his reminder seriously.
“From what I know, PEZA is for buildings. Why should there be walls? Will that mean kuralan sad namo ang SRP (should we also fence the SRP because SRP is PEZA certified?” Rama told reporters.
CPVDC declined to comment on the approval of Filinvest’s PEZA application, saying they want to keep the discussion “business-to-business.”
The Filinvest Cebu Cyberzone project is a joint venture with the Cebu provincial government.
Filinvest is paying the province a monthly rental of P50 per square meter. As of August, it has paid P15.25 million to the province for the past 18 months.
Once operational, Filinvest guaranteed the province an additional P500,000 monthly share of revenues which would increase if two percent of revenues would be higher than the guaranteed amount.
“With investments reaching up to P6 billion, CPI is committed to provide a sustainable mixed-use project comprised of four towers,” they said.
Filinvest said they will give priority to hiring residents of barangays Apas and Lahug during construction and operation of the complex, which is expected to initially generate 4,000 jobs at their first tower and increase to 20,000 jobs in five years.
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