THE Provincial Board (PB) is asking Cebu City Hall to defer action over the perimeter wall along W. Geonzon Street in the Cebu I.T. Park to avoid derailing the province’s negotiations with two real estate developers in the area.
In a resolution filed in yesterday’s session, PB Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez said Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama’s declaration to demolish the perimeter wall would be detrimental to the province’s interest.
The province is mediating the friction between Filinvest Land Inc. and Cebu Property Development Ventures Corp. (CPVDC) to resolve the property dispute over access through Geonzon Street.
In a phone interview, Sanchez said the province is nearing an agreement between Filinvest and CPVDC with the “end goal of tearing down the perimeter wall peacefully and to open access to the Cebu Cyberzone from the Cebu I.T. Park.”
She said Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III has been talking with top Filinvest officials – Filinvest’s Allan Alfon and CPVDC president Francis Monera to seal the agreement.
Stakeholders
“We are nearing a mutually beneficial agreement between FLI and CPVDC while also taking into consideration the concerns of the city of Cebu,” she said in a phone interview.
“They’ve already sat down a number of times but the details have yet to be finalized. I just cannot divulge the details now,” she added.
The perimeter wall on W. Geonzon street separates the I.T. Park, owned by CPVDC from an adjoining lot developed by Filinvest into a new BPO complex called the Cebu Cyberzone.
While the province partnered with Filinvest by virtue of a build-transfer-operate agreement for the Cebu Cyberzone, it also remains one of the stakeholders of the Ayala-owned I.T. Park.
The I.T. Park is the former Lahug domestic airport, a property formerly owned by the Province of Cebu.
“The Province of Cebu believes that the demolition of this perimeter wall on W. Geonzon Street by force would be gravely inimical to the interest of the province in its project with Filinvest and interest in CPVDC,” said the resolution approved by the PB.
Public street
“The demolition of the perimeter wall on W. Geonzon Street by force would further derail the ongoing discussions of the province with CPVDC and effectively with Filinvest,” it stated.
Last week, the City Legal Office released a legal opinion saying that W. Geonzon Street in barangay Apas, Cebu City should be accessible to everyone.
Despite being owned by the CPVDC, W. Geonzon St. as a “public street should therefore be open to all who desire to use the said property.”
The legal office said that CPDVDC “cannot hide behind its private ownership and maintain a position over W. Geonzon Street which is prejudicial to public interest.”
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