SRP windfall

The people of Cebu City  happily  welcome the latest  sale of two lots in the South Road Properties (SRP) to  an SM-Ayala consortium and Filinvest who joined the June 30 public bidding.

The SM-Ayala  consortium submitted a bid of  P38,000 per square meter while Filinvest’s bid for another lot was P35,000 per square meter.

Finally,  Cebuanos can benefit from the sale of the reclaimed land which will fund budgets for the delivery of basic  services and implementation of important infrastructure projects in the city. Cebu City immediately gained P1.06 billion from the initial payment of the 10-percent security bid for both properties  with the condition that the whole price  would be fully  paid within 3 years with an interest of 6 percent per annum.

Mayor Mike Rama was so happy with the sale which is good news for Cebu City residents, the real owners of the property, whose taxes went to paying for the Japan loan that was secured from a bank to finance the development of the 300-hectare SRP.

Initially the Bando Osmeña- Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) headed by former mayor Tomas Osmeña opposed selling SRP lots  under the Rama administration.  He wanted the sale made only after the SM’s Seaside City complex was completed.

Luckily, the Cebu City Council authorized the mayor  to sell several hectares through public bidding. Then when the bidding for the two lots was  set up, the BO-PK attempted to stop the bidding, saying that a resolution cannot supersede an ordinance. The timing of the issue raised by Councilor Andales was highly questionable. Andales had the opportunity to raise that question  long before  but did not.

The way I see it,  they did not expect big companies to participate in the public bidding. But the exercise proceeded and everything is part of history.  The revenue will  serve the welfare and interests of the people of Cebu City.

It is not clear whether the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) would render an unfavorable opinion on the city.  We also don’t know whether this would affect the sale of the SRP lots.

I think it is best for BO-PK to support the sale and perform its function by scrutinizing the contract of sale between Cebu City and the winning bidders.

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Former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña raised a valid  question about the status of  the proceeds  paid by GMR-Megawide for its 25-year concessionaire agreement to construct and manage a new international airport.

Instead of answering the question raised by Osmeña in an open letter, President Aquino was angry and said he felt “insulted” by the insinuation that the money would benefit the Liberal Party in the next election.   He said the P14.4-billion premium paid by GMR-Megawide was intact in the national treasury  and may be used for any valid purpose as agreed by the congressmen.

Aquino said the  money was not stolen by his administration and, in a dig at Osmeña’s being a distant figure by himself, said  Osmeña should look for somebody to talk to. The former Cebu governor  retorted that he did not accuse the Aquino administration of stealing the money but just asked  where the money  in the airport deal is going  because the MCIAA charter states that revenue earned by the  airport must be used for the  MCIA.

This is a  legitimate question  especially since  Cebu is not getting much help when it comes to national government projects and the P14 billion would go a long way in improving facilities, such as construction of a second runway for the MCIA.

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