By Jujemay G. Awit
Saturday, December 22, 2012
WITH Agnes Magpale as acting governor of Cebu, Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) said he will give the Province a part of the South Road Properties (SRP) to finally solve the 93-1 problem.
“The problem of 93-1 will be solved as long as Junjun (Hilario Davide III) is governor together with Agnes Magpale,” said Osmeña.
The Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) visited Acting Governor Magpale yesterday.
Most members of the Cebu City Council were in their blue and yellow BOPK shirts.
They said they were there to show their support, respect and recognition of Magpale as governor of Cebu.
Asked if they were afraid of being accused of politicking when Cebu City is not part of Cebu Province, Osmeña said, “I don't care. Those who don't like us will criticize us but those who like us will like what we are doing.”
Osmeña also said Cebu City is part of Cebu Province as its capital.
“Why are we not part of Cebu Province when 75 percent of Capitol employees are Cebu City residents? We are just here to give moral support to the governor, I don't think that should be criticized,” said Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young.
While Osmeña offered the SRP to Magpale, he clarified that it will be subject to the approval of the City Council.
But what he liked about having Magpale as governor is that there will be better coordination between the Cebu City Government and Cebu Provincial Government.
Ceboom
Osmeña said that when his cousin Lito Osmeña was governor and he was Cebu City mayor, the economy of the entire Cebu was robust and a phenomenon called Ceboom (for Cebu boom) occurred.
With a Liberal Party at the helm of Capitol and at the Cebu City Government, Osmeña believes there will be Ceboom 2.
He even joked that since Mayor Michael Rama supports Garcia, he should allow her to use his office.
Rama declined to comment on Osmeña’s statement.
In their courtesy call on Magpale, the BOPK did not tackle issues like Provincial Ordinance 93-1 and the Ciudad development. But Young and Osmeña are hopeful that the 93-1 issue will be solved. They said they do not consider the Ciudad project as an issue.
93-1
“The 93-1 issue is very easy. It will be solved once the Garcias are out of office,” said Young.
Under Provincial Ordinance 93-1, occupants of provincial lots in Cebu City were given a chance to own the land through amortization. BOPK members in the City Council believe that the rates offered by Garcia were too steep for lot occupants.
Cebu City, under then mayor Osmeña, offered to swap lots with Capitol so that lot occupants will be able to keep their houses. But the proposed deal did not push through due to a quarrel between Garcia and Osmeña.
Osmeña wants to revive the land swap proposal, even though he is no longer Cebu City mayor. Osmeña will run against Rama, who will seek reelection in 2013.
Rama told a press conference yesterday that he is against the land swap proposal because City Hall will have P350 million to acquire properties under 93-1.
For the proposed 2013 budget, there was an allocation of P100 million for lot acquisition of the 93-1 properties while there is also a continuing appropriation for the same account in the 2012 budget.
Rama said that if there is a need for a supplemental budget then his office will prepare for one next year.
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