The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) letter sent by its vice president Elsie F. Tagupa spells out the reason why the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) camp is reluctant to approve the new Supplemental Budget 1 proposed by Mayor Michael Rama.
The 2016 SB1, which is bigger than last year’s aborted SB1, again covers the P2.6-billion (from P2.4 billion) balance of the loan contracted for the South Road Properties (SRP).
As Tagupa spells out in her letter, which she clarified was a reminder and not a warning to Cebu City Hall to pay the scheduled partial payment for the SRP loan, the city government is not allowed to sell more than half of the SRP until it finishes paying the remaining loan balance.
As per latest figures, Tagupa said the city government sold more than 80 hectares of land, or not half of the 330-hectare SRP in keeping with the existing agreement with financial institutions and the Japanese government that provided the loan.
But SRP manager Roberto Varquez made the rather interesting claim that the city government already sold more than half of the SRP lots or about 135 hectares of Cebu City’s prime real estate.
Varquez said the 135 hectares sold is more than half of the 240 hectares of land in the SRP excluding the 60-hectare Pond A which is submerged. Excluding those areas under water, Varquez’s claim appears at first glance to violate that provision in the agreement mentioned by Tagupa.
But that’s not why Rama is so persistent about paying off the balance. Something clearly is more at stake here.
We ask whether paying the remaining loan balance will give the Rama administration the license it needs to virtually engage in a fire sale of SRP lots to whomever it deems to be capable of meeting the highest bid.
The mayor had been quite critical about his predecessor for supposedly claiming sole credit for the SRP and dictating its development as if it was his own personal pet project.
But now Cebu City residents should ask the mayor whether he is just as open about his own plans for the city’s prime real estate project and if they can trust him enough to have a concrete, workable and sound development plan for it that goes beyond sound bites and sloganeering.
Based on his administration’s dismal financial records and budgeting, city residents have every reason and right to know about Rama’s program for the SRP.
The only other development we’ve heard from Rama’s end is that Japanese investor who is interested in setting up a retirement facility for Japanese wishing to make their home in Cebu.
What came out of those negotiations? City residents ought to know if only to see whether the Rama administration has a clear plan of development going forward as it leaves its fate in the hands of the city’s voters.
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