Rama to Filinvest: Final payment needs my nod

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is not yet convinced that Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) has fully paid for the purchase of Pond F of the South Road Properties.

After FLI announced it had completed its obligation to Cebu city  for the SRP lot, Mayor Rama said he wants a review of the terms   of the joint venture contract with Filinvest.

“Until I give  my imprimatur, that ‘final payment’ will never be final as far as the mayor’s office is concerned,” he told reporters.

On Thursday,  FLI officials handed a P134 million check to city treasurer Diwa Cuevas, city legal officer Jerone Castillo and city accountant Mark Salomon.

In a press statement, FLI said the check  completes the developer’s payment for the 10.6-hectare lot in  SRP’s Pond F.

Rama said he would form a  group to review the contract with FLI regarding  the purchase of the  10.6-hectare lot which is being developed as Il Corso, a lifestyle strip and shopping destination for the AB and C markets.

Filinvest said this  will form part of the 40-hectare City di Mare, which is being developed as a joint venture with the city government.

Rama said another group will also review the contract for the 40-hectare lot.

“If I look back, there was pressure at that time (when the contract was made) to do this fast.  I was acting mayor. Even my predecessor niuli gyud, then nibalik ra (came home, then went back). Naay daghang storya, wa raba tay bahin (There were a lot of rumors, and we didn’t get any share),” Rama said.

He said he wants the group to determine if terms and conditions were complied with by the city and FLI, and that everything was in order.

City officials received Filinvest’s  P134 million check but disagreed with  the deduction of  two percent of the  total payment of P141.8 million  which was withheld by Filinvest as tax to be remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Cuevas said earlier that based on their records,  Filinvest still had a  balance of around P187,000 to the city.

In  discussions during the turnover last Thursday, Castillo said FLI officials led by Visayas area general manager Allan Alfon agreed to pay the balance. The city billed FLI for the balance and  are  processing the payment, Castillo said.