Rama assures Cebu City residents: SRP loan to be fully paid this year
South Road Properties (SRP) CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Rama promises that the remaining balance of the South Road Properties (SRP) loan will be fully paid this year.
This was his statement in a press conference on Monday, February 14, 2022.
The city is set to pay a portion of the loan this month, around P100 million, as part of the staggered payment. The city currently has P1.2 billion balance from the SRP loan.
The city took a P4.65 billion loan in 1995 from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the development of the South Road Properties (SRP).
The mayor has ordered the City Accounting Office and City Treasurer’s Office to complete the documentary requirements for the full repayment of the loan.
The 2022 annual budget already allocated funds for the repayment of the loan, and Rama wants it to be completed within the term of late Mayor Edgardo Labella, which he is completing.
The late mayor had promised to repay the remaining balance of the loan within his term so that the city will no longer allocate budget for it yearly.
The City Treasurer’s Office said it will be asking a supplemental budget for an allocation of the remaining balance so it can be repaid this year.
However, Mayor Rama said there was no need for a supplemental budget on the repayment of the loan because the allocation was already part of the 2022 annual budget.
“Wala man na mawala sa budget 2022 ang loan. Ngano magbutang pa man ta sa Supplemental Budget? Documentary requirements na lang ang kulang. So I am directing the consultant to the mayor, Attorney Jerone Castillo to go to Manila and do all of this,” Rama said.
(That loan is not gone in the 2022 budget. Why should we put a supplemental budget? The documentary requirements are all that is lacking. So I am directing the consultant to the mayor, Attorney Jerone Castillo to go to Manila and do all of this.)
“Remember, I have all documents completely secured during my incumbency as mayor, we only need to show it to them. And if there is a need, have another one, or confirmed by the Bureau of Finance and even JICA,” said the mayor.
He said that the repayment of the loan must be completed by this year because the loan has long been a liability to the city.
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