To fund SB-2: City set to use SRP payment

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City’s executive department has decided to use the “down payment” from the giant firms that bought 45.5 hectares of lot at the South Road Properties (SRP) to fund the P2.5-billion proposed Supplemental Budget (SB)-2.

Four years since the sale was sealed, it is the second time that the executive department recognized the payment of the giant firms as revenue.

Acting City Treasurer Arlene Rentuza, who is the existing holder of the authority as acting treasurer by the Bureau of Local Government Finance, said the city will not use the P2 billion consigned payment in court to fund SB-2, as earlier reported.

“The consigned amount you are talking about is not the source of fund for SB-2. The portion of the down payment made by SM and Ayala back in 2015 is the source of fund for SB-2,” she told The FREEMAN.

To recall, the consortium of Ayala Land, Cebu Holdings Inc. and SM Prime Holdings bought a 26.3-hectare property at P10.009 billion, while Filinvest Land Inc. bought 19.2 hectares of lot at P6.7 billion in 2015.

In that year, the buyers made a 50-percent down payment in August 2015 amounting to P8.35 billion.

In 2016, the city used over P4 billion to fund portion of the Annual Budget during that time.

Former mayor Tomas Osmeña ordered not to utilize the money since he earlier planned to rescind the contract, however, only FLI yielded to rescind the agreement.

With this, the consortium of SM, Ayala and CHI consigned their payment to the court.

The consigned amount will not be used as source of fund of the SB-2 yet since there are several procedures before the city will withdraw the amount in court.

The remaining P3.5 billion down payment in 2015 was identified as “deferred income.”

Rentuza said the Office of the City Accountant has adjusted the entry of books making the P3.5 billion as prior year adjustment from “deferred income.”

This means that the new administration of the city government recognizes the P3.5 billion as revenue, which may be used as source of fund for the supplemental budget.

Rentuza said she is one of the four signatories of the Certification of the Source of Funds of the proposed SB-2.

The other three signatories include Jerome Ornopia (designated by Mayor Edgardo Labella as city accountant); Atty. Mark Jason Tirol who heads the Financial Control Division at the City Accountant’s Office, and Atty. Jerone Castillo, the designated city treasurer.

“Atty. Tirol and I need to sign the certification, as Ornopia and Castillo are not valid signatories to anything official as their appointments are on casual status yet as of this writing,” Rentuza said.

Among the items in the SB-2 include P500 million for the digital traffic system; P455 million assistance for senior citizens from July to December; P80 million for assistance for persons with disabilities, P1.175 billion for IT equipment and other items under capital outlay.

Labella said some portions of the P1.175 billion will be used for road openings in different barangays in the city but he could not cite the specific locations yet since he was not bringing the documents yesterday.

Once the SB-2 will be approved, the city government will start distributing the financial aid to senior citizens and PWDs who have been waiting for their financial assistance since July. — GAN (FREEMAN)