"She did not do it out of kindness" Tom: Gwen forced to hand out deeds

Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña may be on medical leave, but he has not slowed down in his verbal assault against Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia.

The mayor on leave said that Garcia was only forced to release the deed of absolute sale to urban poor families that have already completely paid for their lots for fear that she will be sued for delaying the release of such documents.

“She did not do it out of kindness, that’s for sure. She sat on it for years. If the occupants did not mobilize and threaten to sue her, she would stall some more,” Osmeña issued the comment one day after the governor distributed 589 deed of absolute sales to beneficiaries of the Provincial Ordinance 93-1.

The Province of Cebu owns several parcels of land situated in 11 barangays of the city and most of them are already occupied by the illegal settlers.

This situation prompted then Governor Vicente “Tingting” de la Serna to allow them to buy the lots they are occupying and to pay them through easy installment basis within five years.

Since there were still many of the beneficiaries who failed to completely pay their obligation after the lapse of the five-year term, De La Serna with the authority of the Provincial Board, gave another five years extension, but still many of the illegal settlers failed to pay their amortization.

Of the 5,000 urban poor families who were supposed to be the beneficiaries of Ordinance 93-1, only 589 of them were diligent in the payment of their monthly payments, while the more than 4,000 others just took it for granted until after Garcia decided not to give them any more extensions to settle their accounts.

This started the misunderstanding between Garcia and Osmeña because the mayor insisted that the urban poor families should be given another chance to pay their outstanding account, instead of evicting them.

In his text message to this reporter, Osmeña said, “Please reassure the others that as long as I remain standing, I will keep on fighting, for them and for Cebu City,” said Osmeña, who is still in the United States for treatment.

The 60-year old Osmeña explained that he does not like to have a quarrel with a woman, but his position to be the mayor of the city requires him to defend the rights of his constituents.

Before his misunderstanding with Garcia worsened, the mayor offered a land swap deal between the city and province to find a peaceful solution to the problem.

Osmeña offered to swap the province-owned lots that are being occupied by the illegal settlers with the city’s more than three hectare lot located in the North Reclamation Area.

But Garcia and the other provincial officials got mad after Vice Mayor Michael Rama delivered a privilege speech, saying that such move could be disadvantageous for the city because the provincial officials will just “Dawat lang ug limpyo” and it will be the city who will assume their problem about the collection of the payments.

Rama had apologized to the province, but it failed to persuade provincial board and Garcia to push through with the land swap.

The conflict escalated after the city stopped the Ciudad project at a Capitol-owned lot.

In retaliation to the city’s move, Garcia also closed a road near Chong Hua Hospital that passes through a province-owned lot. –/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)