Province wants to develop Gorordo property

By Davinci S. Maru and Rizel S. Adlawan

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

A RELOCATION site may soon be needed for several units housed inside the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) compound, because the Provincial Government intends to use one of its properties for a revenue-raising project.

Criminal and Investigation Detection Group (CIDG) 7 Director Jose Pante told Sun.Star Cebu the plan is still in the works and will likely materialize next year.

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“Wala na tayong magagawa diyan kasi pag-aari naman nila ito (We can’t do anything about it because the Province owns this lot),” he said when sought for comment.

The plan is to use a Provincial Government-owned lot near Asilo de la Milagrosa Church, about 6,000 square meters going in the direction of the CCCPO compound.

Aside from the CIDG 7 office, the plan may also affect the Highway Patrol Group and the CCPO compound’s entrance.

“Despite this, we we’re assured we’d be relocated properly,” Pante said.

In a separate interview, CCPO Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said he has yet to be informed about the project and declined to comment.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia confirmed the plan last week, during a meeting with CIDG officials in her office.

Paul Entera, head of Capitol’s real estate and properties division, said in an interview that lot is beside Asilo de la Milagrosa.

He also said there are three lots that have already been sold to some individuals. He could not yet say exactly how many establishments or residences will be affected because he had no access to records during the interview yesterday, a holiday.

On the part of the CCPO, only the gate and a building near the road will be affected, said Entera. He said the CCPO already knew about this.

The CIDG currently shares a lot with the Mobile Patrol Group, Crime Laboratory and CCPO.

“Lahat siksikan kami doon (We’re all crammed there),” Pante added. The compound also includes a ten-bed regional hospital.

Capitol officials, though, have not mentioned when the development will start.

When the governor met recently with CIDG 7 Chief Pante, they discussed the Province’s plan to give the unit a building situated in a Capitol property in Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City.

The governor reportedly explained the Capitol intends to develop the commercially viable property along Gorordo Ave. using a public-private partnership.

A restaurant, among many other possible establishments, may be built there.

“We would be willing to relocate all of you,” the governor assured the CIDG.

She mentioned a plan to build an anti-crime community on the Province’s property in Sudlon, where the provincial police office is already based.

Law enforcers can coordinate better if related agencies, like the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the justice department’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are also placed there.

Helping build offices for the law enforcement agencies like PDEA and NBI, the governor added, is the Province’s “contribution to the effort to fight” crime and make Cebu more attractive to businesses and tourists.

Entera added that the Province already sent letters to some occupants of the property who did not pay the Capitol rent. He said his office received only verbal responses, so far, acknowledging that the Capitol owns the lot.

“Nahibawo na na sila.(They already know that),” Entera told Sun.Star Cebu.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 01, 2011.