Capitol lawyer defends land swap deal with city

CEBU, Philippines - The land swap deal between the Cebu City government and the provincial government is “not indecent and illegal” transaction contrary to the claims of former governor Pablo “Pabling” Garcia.

This was the response of the Provincial Legal Office on Garcia’s position paper seeking reconsideration of the Provincial Board’s decision authorizing Governor Hilario Davide III to enter into an agreement with the city government on the controversial 93-1 lots.

In his nine-page legal opinion, Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said there is nothing illegal in the transaction contemplated under the memorandum of agreement as it is consistent with the mandate of the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA).

 Citing Section 39 of UDHA, Ortega said the local government of Cebu City, where the 93-1 lots are located, is responsible for the implementation of UDHA.

Under Section 9 of the law, he said, the properties owned by the government or any of its subdivision are the first priorities in the acquisition of land for purposes of urban land reform and housing.

The same law also indicates the modes of acquiring lands for purposes of UDHA to include land swapping, donation, joint venture, among others. With the land swap deal, he said the properties do not lose their purpose as socialized housing.

 The province has ceded the 93-1 properties for socialized housing since 1993. The properties are located in 11 different barangays — Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Kalunasan, Busay, Luz, Lahug, Mabolo, Apas, Lorega, Kasambagan and Tejero.

“The city cannot unreasonably gain an advantage in the transaction because it is mandated to implement its socialized housing program on the properties,” he said.

 The agreement between the city and the province stipulates that the “city shall respect the rights and interest of the beneficiaries and shall extend, formally initiate and implement its socialized housing program over said portions for the 93-1 beneficiaries, and provide further, that the properties under Provincial Ordinance No. 93-1 so assigned by the province to the city under this agreement shall be disposed of or used only for socialized housing.”

 Ortega said both the province and the city are presently taking steps to get the approval of the Commission on Audit on the land swap or the disposal of the real properties.

He said both LGUs are not denying that the transaction is still subject to COA’s approval, in response to Garcia’s claim that the swapping is illegal as it lacked concurrence from the audit body. 

 In a letter dated January 12, 2017, Garcia asked the members of the Provincial Board to review the land swap agreement "carefully and judiciously" to protect the best interest of the province. The PB referred his letter to the PLO for legal opinion.

Garcia called the agreement an "illegal" transaction, a "robbery in broad daylight" and therefore "grossly disadvantageous" to the province.

 The transaction, Ortega stressed is not injurious or grossly disadvantageous to the government.

The province has agreed to swap its 32.4-hectare properties with that of the Cebu City government's 16.42 hectares.

The 16.42-hectare properties include the 2.5-hectare lot at the South Road Properties, 3.3-hectare Block 27 properties, 1.3-hectare septage treatment facility, and 2,476-square meter abattoir property.

 Ortega said these are properties with “high development potential” that can exponentially add to the province’s coffers.

 Garcia earlier said the value of these properties have doubled or tripled and so the 32.4- hectare property can be appraised at P10 billion or even more.

Based on an April 4, 2008 appraisal and adapted in 2011 by the Cebu Provincial Appraisal Committee, the 32.4-hectare lots are worth P2.96 billion. In a 1990 appraisal, it was only valued at P338.3 million.

 Garcia said only 1.62 hectares of the 16.42 hectares can be of use to the province, while the rest are "problematic and of dubious values."

 Garcia said the 2.5-hectare lot at the SRP, for instance, cannot be swapped because the city government has no authority yet to dispose of the properties.

 But Ortega argued that the projected valuation of P10 billion for the 93-1 lots is “flawed.”

 “The socialized housing is limited to a ceiling of P450,000. The valuation therefore of properties under socialized housing cannot go higher than the prescribed ceiling,” he said. (FREEMAN)