Joel to Tom: Thank me for SRP investors

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera has claimed that he was instrumental to the deluge of investors expressing interest in doing business at the South Road Properties (SRP).

The councilor said no firm would have been interested in the SRP if the landfill in Barangay Inayawan, which is directly fronting the humungous reclaimed property, continued to operate.

Garganera said Mayor Tomas Osmeña should be grateful for the closure of the Inayawan dump since it ushered in more investors at the SRP.

“Angayan siya magpasalamat pero wa man siya’y batasan. Angayan siya magpasalamat nako kay sa iyahang kagahi og ulo, manghawa na unta kanang present locators dinha, pero napasirad-an naman... Siya ra unta ang moinvest diha kay siya ra man wala baho-i,” he said.

In December 2016, Garganera, chairman of the City Council’s committee on environment, filed a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan before the Court of Appeals that effectively shut down the landfill.

Earlier that year, the landfill was reopened by Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, who sat as acting mayor upon the serving of suspension order against 14 Cebu City Hall officials, including then outgoing mayor Michael Rama, in relation to the controversial release of calamity aid in 2013.

Mayor Osmeña’s administration appealed the lower court’s decision before the Supreme Court but the latter has ruled to perpetually stop the use of the facility.

Last year, Gokongwei-led Universal Resorts and Hotels Inc. tendered an unsolicited proposal to develop the nine-hectare Kawit property at the SRP valued at P18 billion but the joint venture agreement between the firm and the City Hall was junked by the opposition-dominated council earlier this month.

“Dili mo-show og interest ang Gokongwei without the Writ of Kalikasan (The Gokongwei would not have been interested without the petition to close the landfill),” Garganera said.

He added that the same is true with Federal Land Inc., a Manila-based developer that recently offered to buy a three-hectare lot at the SRP at P115,000 per square meter.

Garganera said that in their last executive session with officials of Filinvest Land Inc., another developer at the SRP, the firm’s senior vice president Tristan Las Marias reportedly said their sales had dropped because of the landfill stench.

“They lost a lot. When FLI loses, the city also loses because we get the percentage of the loss,” Garganera explained.

The councilor likewise claimed that even a big mall at the SRP, along with its tenants, have complained over the smell but have reportedly chosen to remain mum on the matter because “it’s hard to fight City Hall.”

Sought for his comment, Osmeña said Federal Land has long expressed its interest in buying an SRP property.

The mayor also labeled Garganera as “liar,” saying the latter should be honest enough to admit that a mall, Filinvest, and Bigfoot had already invested in the SRP even before the closure of the landfill.

“Dili oy, bakakon ni siya, nasud ang (mall) didto, naa diha ang landfill. Bigfoot ug ang Filinvest pud. Sa ato pa bakakon ni siya. Moangkon siya nga ako pa magpasalamat? Ayaw kalimti nga niingon siya nga kung na’y mopalit sa SRP mo-resign siya dayon. Unya ngano hangtod karon wa pa man siya ni-resign?” Osmeña said in a phone interview with The FREEMAN. — Joyce Ann Gabutan (FREEMAN)