Labella ‘no problem’ with voiding FLI deal

CEBU, Philippines — The agreement between the Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) and the Osmeña administration on the rescission of the 19.2-hectare South Road Properties (SRP) lot sale sits well with Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, according to a city official.

“The mayor has no problem of honoring their mutual agreement to rescind the contract,” SRP Management Office Head Jose Daluz III.

FLI and former Mayor Tomas Osmeña agreed in principle to rescind the purchase worth P6.8 billion. The purchase contract was signed in June 2015 during the incumbency of mayor Michael Rama.

In 2015, the city government sold three parcels of SRP lots, with a combined area of 45.2 hectares.

Of the lots sold, some 26 hectares went to the consortium of Ayala Land-Cebu Holdings Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc., while FLI bought 19.2 hectares.

When Osmeña assumed office in 2016, he pushed for the revocation of the contract of sale with the three developers, saying the transaction was “illegal and invalid.”

Osmeña said Rama was not authorized by the city council to sell the lots as required under City Ordinance 2332.

Labella has been consistent with his stand that the sale was valid and legal as stated in the decision of the Court of Appeals, which heard the civil case questioning the validity of the sale.

In 2017, FLI agreed, in principle, with the city to rescind the contract.

Tristan Las Marias, FLI senior vice president for Visayas and Mindanao, earlier said the city has failed to fulfill its obligations under the sale contract, including the failure to release the lot titles even if they won the public bidding in June 2015.

Osmeña earlier said the city will refund the P4 billion FLI made as a down payment for the 19.2-hectare property it purchased.

Daluz said the executive department will invite FLI executives to a meeting to put an end to the issue.

He said the city is willing to return the FLI’s initial payment.

Once the contract is revoked, he said, the city will reacquire the property and sell or lease the same to interested buyers.

SRP is home to the 40-hectare mixed-used project City di Mare owned by FLI and SM Seaside City Cebu of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPHI), two of the biggest developments in the area.

Daluz said all developments on the 26.3-hectare will proceed as planned as the consortium agreed to “cooperate and coordinate” with the city government in the construction of the world-class arena, among others. — KBQ (FREEMAN)