Senate OKs UP land sale bill

MANILA, Philippines — A bill authorizing the University of the Philippines (UP) to sell a portion of its land to the Quezon City government has been approved on third and final reading in the Senate.

Senate Bill 2234 was approved with 19 affirmative votes, no negative vote and zero abstention.

The bill authorizes UP to sell a parcel of its land in Barangay Krus na Ligas to the Quezon City government not exceeding 22,467 hectares at a fair market price that is acceptable to the university.

The bill was authored by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture.

Under the bill, the authorization shall automatically be revoked if UP and the local government would fail to agree on the terms and conditions of the sale within one year from the effectivity of the act or when full payment would not be received by the university within one year after the execution of the agreement.

Upon transfer of ownership of the parcels of land in Barangay Krus na Ligas from UP to the local government, the latter shall immediately fence off the property of the university to segregate it from the area being sold.

The Quezon City government shall create a technical working group to identify the legitimate residents of Barangay Krus na Ligas, who shall be qualified buyers of the parcels of land in the barangay.

The technical working group shall also assist UP, at the expense of the local government, to resettle all other settlers found in the remaining property of UP that is adjacent to the parcels of land in Barangay Krus na Ligas.