SRP Has Edge Over Mandaue Reclamation: Tom (May 2006)

With a lot from the South Reclamation Project (SRP) to show to investors, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he is in no way insecure with the way Mandaue City will package its reclamation project. “I wish them well so we don’t have to take care of them,” he told a news conference yesterday. Osmeña said Cebu City has a lot more edge in attracting investors to the SRP than the reclamation project owned by F.F. Cruz, “a profit-oriented group, which has not put money back to the Mandaue City Government, while Cebu City owns the entire SRP.” “What does Mandaue own? After all these years what will they have to show for it? I hope the international convention center will give them something,” the mayor said. “Mandaue has been very slow in developing itself even though it is a much newer city than Cebu City. I would just like to remind them that I was the one responsible for all the new roads in Mandaue, including A.S. Fortuna, Cabahug and the Mandaue reclamation road. I had to give them garbage trucks. I really wish them well and I hope they will develop,” he said.

No competition

Osmeña said that some people “just like to put us down,” by comparing both reclamations. Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano earlier said there is no competition between Mandaue’s and Cebu City’s reclaimed properties, as all the lots in Mandaue are already sold to different private owners. In an earlier interview, F.F. Cruz and Co. Inc. director for property management Yvonne Gomos said the 200-hectare New Mandaue City is purely a private initiative; only 60 hectares of the total reclaimed area were turned over to the host City Government. “Yeah, it’s all sold but he (Ouano) sold it to people who are not building anything. At least Cebu City owns everything in the SRP. Sure we have utang (debt) but we own it, what does Mandaue own?” Osmeña said.

He also said the SRP will soon have “the most modern sewage treatment plant in Asia, a power plant and a beautiful highway, where one can drive down without seeing a single wire hanging unlike that in Cebu City mainland and other places.” The City is also experimenting on a district cooling system being developed by Hitachi. It is a cooling system that can provide centralized airconditioning in the SRP. “When you build in the SRP, you don’t have to put airconditioning, we will do it for you and bill you at a rate much lower than anywhere else in Asia. If we will be able to do it, we will be the first to have a district cooling system in the country. It’s a kind that Malaysia and the Hong Kong international airport have,” the mayor said. 

Landfill gas

Philippine Bio-sciences, Co., an investor, is conducting a test project at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill. It wants to prove that landfill gas may be collected and used to generate cheap electricity. Once the project is completed, Osmeña said Phil Bio is ready to raise the capital to finance the mini-power plant.

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Tomas Wants SRP to be Officially Named South Road Properties (May 2006)

The Freeman 05/15/2006

Mayor Tomas Osmeña finally ordered the city council to name officially the 300-hectare south reclamation project as South Road Properties. 

The mayor said the name South Road Properties should be patented then registered with the Department of Trade and Industry as the official name of the city's reclaimed land. 

Councilor Edgardo Labella, committee on laws chairman, said Osmeña called him last week informing him of this plan of the city government. The councilor told The Freeman that, as such, he would sponsor a proposed measure on the matter during the next regular session. 

The move of the mayor, according to city administrator Francisco "Bimbo" Fernandez, was apparently to avoid confusion that arose when Mandaue City also had its own reclamation area with a name almost similar with that of Cebu City's SRP. 

But Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano clarified that his city's reclaimed area was actually the Mandaue Reclamation Project or the South Reclamation Area. 

Ouano already said there is actually no competition between the reclaimed sites of Mandaue City and Cebu City because Mandaue's SRA is only a 180-hectare site and only about 36 hectares of it belong to the city government because it has been developed and owned by a private firm. 

Ouano added there has been no confusion over the nomenclatures of the two reclaimed areas because he would rather call his part as "New Mandaue City", as the huge sign announces so at the area's access point. 

Osmeña earlier rebuffed claims that he got insecure of Mandaue City's SRA, and said he even wished Mandaue would fully develop the area. 

Fernandez added that the official naming of the present SRP to South Road Properties would boost the economic and investment prospect of the multi-billion reclaimed project. 

"Kini aron makabaton og opisyal nga pangalan ang SRP og aron madasig ang mga magpapatigayun pagbubo og puhonan," Fernandez said, adding that when the name is patented and becomes official, the city government will then have sole ownership of the name. - Garry B. Lao

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Cebu City seeks bidders for 20 SRP hectares (May 2006)

Sunday, May 14, 2006


Cebu City Hall is set to invite bidders for a 20-hectare portion of the South Reclamation Project (SRP), particularly the one eyed by a Singaporean manufacturing firm, before the month ends.

The parcel, situated near Barangay Pasil, will be pegged at P10,000 per square meter, according to an appraisal of the
committee on awards for real property disposal.

City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the committee is preparing the documents needed for the publication of the invitation.

Fernandez, who chairs the committee, said Fil-rich Holdings Inc. will have to join the bidding for the 20-hectare lot because the City has government procedures to follow.

The company wants to put up “the world’s first fully automated container manufacturing plant” in Cebu.

Full payment

It even signified its intention to give the full payment for the property but the mayor is aware of procedures to follow, said Acting General Services Chief Ester Cubero.

Cubero, a member of the committee on awards for realty disposal, said she is preparing all the documents needed for the bidding, including the draft publication, which was supposed to come out last May 11.

But Fernandez told her to “hold in abeyance” the publication for the invitation in two national newspapers and a local daily because they have to wait for the mayor’s further instructions, said Cubero.

In separate interviews, both Cubero and Fernandez said they still lack the approval from the Commission on Audit (COA) for the sale of the 20-hectare portion.

Value check

However, Cubero, who talked to a state auditor from the COA 7, said the City can already proceed with the publication of the notice to invite, the opening of bids and even the issuance of the notice of award.

“For as long as we follow the procedures provided in the law, there is really nothing wrong. COA will only come in to look into the reasonableness of the value of the land,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.

Cubero also learned that for each parcel of the SRP up for disposal, the City has to get the approval of the commission because each has a different value.

Section 380 of the Local Government Code provides that in the case of real property, the disposal shall be subject to the approval of the COA, regardless of the value or cost involved.

Hybrid

The City Government has written COA Manila last January yet to seek directions on how to go about the sale of the SRP lots.

COA will not let the City Hall follow procedures undertaken by Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza)-registered companies, which are owned by private corporations.

Peza companies can peg a fixed rate if they want to lease their land to investors, but COA said the City Hall cannot just follow this method because Peza has its own charter and is independent of the government.

City Hall has to deal with the fact that the SRP is the first and only Peza-registered facility owned by a local government unit.

Because of this, the City has to follow government procedures. (GAC)

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Rare Birds In SRP (May 2006)

They feed at man-made ponds
in reclamation project
Published: 08 May 2006



In the middle of Cebu City just across the 20-hectare sanitary landfill, local and migratory birds have found a new home on a controversial strip of land made by man.

Among these are the elusive Philippine Duck and the rare Chinese Pond Heron, which have been sighted by a prominent bird-watching group feeding at the South Reclamation Project (SRP).

Nilo Arribas Jr., head of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines Inc.-Cebu chapter, has recorded the sighting of the Philippine Duck, which is endemic to the Philippines.

The presence of the Philippine Duck was an "important indicator that the wetland is able to support the needs of the birds," he added.

According to Arribas, the Philippine Duck has been considered as one of the biggest mysteries of the bird-watching community in the Philippines.

"We haven't monitored where the ducks breed. Some birders see them as either young or adult, we never saw them breeding somewhere," he said.

But the biggest surprise at the SRP was when Arribas saw the rare Chinese Pond Heron, which according to worldwide birding census, was only seen about five times in the last century in different parts of the world.

According to rules set by the World Bird Census, a sighting of a bird at a particular place must be confirmed by two other independent bird-watchers before it would be officially recorded. 

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"There are also factors that should be considered like the time of the day and the year and the weather," Arribas said. 
In a fine day, Arribas said more than 500 birds of at least 25 species can be found at two flooded portions of the SRP, as what he reported to the International Water Bird Census.

These included sandpipers, egrets, wagtails, terns, sparrows and manias.

One of the flooded portions is located just beside the South Coastal Road. The second is the 60-hectare unreclaimed portion called Pond A. 

Half of the birds are migratory, or those who fly to another country to escape winter.

Arribas said some birds at the SRP could never be found in the bigger and more popular Olango Wildlife Sanctuary on Olango Island. 

"We can consider the SRP a grassland/freshwater area. It is different from Olango which we consider a tidal flat," he said. 

Unlike Olango, the SRP is man-made and very close to the urban center, which makes it extra special.

The SRP is dubbed as the "heart of the city" as it is accessible in the north through the Cebu City port and in the south through an access road in Barangay Mambaling.

It connects mainland Cebu to Kawit Island through the 11.72-kilometer Cebu South Coastal Road, which starts at the Cebu City port area in the north and ends in Talisay City in the south.

The SRP, which was completed in 2001, was funded by a loan of 12.3 billion yen (about P6.3 billion) from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, making it the largest infrastructure project and loan agreement secured by a local government.

Export processing zones and light industries are envisioned to sprout on the reclaimed area, bringing in 100,000 jobs for Cebuanos. On its beachfront will rise condominiums and hotels. 

But for Arribas, the SRP can also be promoted as a bird-watching destination in the city - not just to attract more tourists but also to encourage people to appreciate and help protect the birds.

"We can use the SRP to promote tourism and to raise interest among the people on migratory and endemic birds of the Philippines," he said.

"If they won't cover the wetland up, it is almost sure that the bird population at the SRP will grow," he added.

But at present, Arribas noticed the lack of support from the local government and little interest among locals about the birds.

"Every time we go to the SRP, it's always a hide-and-seek with the authorities," he said.

Most of the people who contact the club and Arribas for a bird tour are foreigners.

"We should promote the SRP because it is a very good place for bird-watching and you don't even have to travel far," he added.

He pointed out that in Luzon, in order to see the rare Philippine Duck, birders had to travel five hours to Pagbilao town, Quezon.

Arribas hopes the Cebu City government would follow other local government units like Parañaque and Marikina cities, which took advantage of their wetlands and turn them into tourist destinations.

He said the club is helping the cities educate visitors and protect the birds and their feeding ground. The Cebu City government, on the other hand, has never asked them for help.

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Theme Park to Rise in SRP (May 2006)

Despite the political and economic crises hounding the country today, hotel developer and operator J. King and Sons Co. Inc. (JKSCI) remains confident in the country’s economy, as manifested by its investment plans on diverse businesses in the coming years. 

Aside from its hotel and condominium projects in Cebu, JKSCI also plans to construct a three-hectare water theme park—the first of its kind in Cebu—at the South Road Properties (formerly south reclamation project), JKSCI chairman Richard King said. 

He said JKSCI is now talking with Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña on the water theme park project, which King estimated to cost the company some $4 million. 

“(If the talks between Mayor Osmeña and JKSCI succeed), JKSCI will build a water theme park that is like, if not better than, the Enchanted Kingdom and Splash Island,” King said. 

“And because our (JKSCI) vision is to let the Cebuanos, especially the middle income group, experience the good life, we will make the fees very affordable,” he added.

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City to earn P2B from Singaporean (May 2006)

firm locating at SRP
Published: 05 May 2006
CDN

A SINGAPOREAN firm engaged in the manufacture of 20-footer container vans is putting up a manufacturing plant in a portion of the 300-hectare South Reclamation Project (SRP), Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said. 

Ferdinand Robert of Filritc Corp. of Singapore visited City Hall yesterday to meet with Osmeña. 

The company that Robert represents is the first foreign locator that is scheduled to close a deal with the city government for the purchase of a 20-hectare property at the SRP for P2 billion, the mayor said.

The Singaporean firm, he said, is set to produce 40,000 units of 20-footer container vans in a year's operation of its fully automated container yard, the first in the world. 

"I can't say no to them because they are paying us in cash," he said. 

Osmeña said that while he wanted to open the SRP to job-generating businesses, he agreed to the Singaporean firm's offer to pay in cash.

"It is our policy that the SRP is not for profit but for what good it will do to Cebu. But the first sale is really for profit because we need cash for the utang (city's debt)," the mayor said. 

Osmeña said that while only very few Cebuanos may be employed by the firm, the city would have more than enough money to pay off its local counterpart to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). 
A portion of the sales may also be used for development programs to increase the marketability of the reclamation project. 

"A major portion will go to the needs of the city. We have to realize that we cannot just bleed the project to death (to earn revenues)," he said. 

Osmeña said he wanted to fund development projects at the SRP. 

This includes the establishment of interior roads, the completion of the senior citizen's building, and the construction of a lighthouse and recreational facilities, including a football field and picnic grounds. 

He also wanted to put up a prototype of a white sand beach in Pond F to improve its marketability.

Cebu City has been luring foreign investors to the SRP to raise funds to pay its loans, majority of which come from the JBIC to develop the SRP.

The city is scheduled to pay P655.88 million for the SRP in 2006.

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Lighthouse in Memory of Jojo: Tom Wants Design to Look 'Aged' (May 2006)

The Freeman 05/05/2006



A graphic design for the 10-story lighthouse dedicated for slain Bantay Dagat chief Elpidio "Jojo" dela Victoria has been completed, but Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants it modified to come up with an "aged" look. 

The completed design of the lighthouse is a modern-type concrete structure with a concrete roadway protruding from Kawit Island to the sea. But Osmeña said he would prefer if the design would be modified to create an "aged" look. 

Instead of the cemented roadway, the mayor prefers sand. The end result would be a strip of white sand bar lined with palm trees and rocks with its end dotted by the 10-story lighthouse. 

The lighthouse itself would function as a communications and surveillance center complete with radar to monitor coastal activities at night. Just yesterday, Osmeña said the lighthouse would also contain a thermal image detector and would serve as a "military detachment." 

With an initial budget of P20 million, Osmeña intends to make the lighthouse as among the landmarks of Kawit island, which he intends to rename "Jojo's Point" in honor of dela Victoria. 

Dela Victoria was shot outside his residence on April 12. With three gunshot wounds on his thigh, right arm, and lower back, he succumbed to death at the Chong Hua Hospital the day after, due to extensive damage to his pancreas and left kidney. The bullet exited through his abdomen. Charges have been filed in court against SPO1 Marcial Ocampo, the alleged gunman. - Joeberth M. Ocao

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Industrial Zoning for SRP Shapes Up (May 2006)

Sunstar
Sunday, May 21, 2006



The move to classify the South Reclamation Project and Kawit Island under the industrial districts of Cebu City is shaping up, after the City Council approved on second a reading a draft ordinance. 

The council held a public hearing last Wednesday for the proposed amendment to City Ordinance 1656 or the Comprehensive Zoning Regulations of Cebu City, but no one came to speak for or against the revision. 

This prompted Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, the proponent, to move for the termination of the hearing. 

Final deliberation 

The council secretariat will set the proposed revision next Wednesday for the council’s final deliberation. 

To be declared under the industrial zone is the entire south block “starting from the shoreline of Cogon-Pardo and the terminal point of Gabuya St., the line to the northwest, until it intersects with F. Jaca St., then northeast after up to the Cebu South Road in Barangay Kinasang-an, northeast and east of the South Road to C. Padilla St. until it intersects with the Guadalupe Pahina River to the shoreline of Pasil; then west and southwest along this shoreline to Suba, Sawang Calero, Mambaling, Basak-Pardo and Cogon-Pardo back to the point of beginning.” 

Pesquera is also pushing for the classification of the east-block in the port areas in Barangays Tejero, Mabolo and Kasambagan. 

This covers the intersection of Quezon Ave., Legaspi St. Extension and M. J. Cuenco Ave..; the line will proceed north until it intersects with Manalili St. to the west and parallel to M.J. Cuenco Ave. until it intersects with N. Joaquino St. northwest of this street to C. Tudtud St. and northeast of this street to Juan Luna Luna Ave. 

The zoning includes northeast of Sindulan St. then 100 meters from the west of Mahiga Creek then 100 meters north of the creek until it reaches the boundary of the Cebu Country Club then back south, crossing the north road down to the northeast boundary of the Cebu North Reclamation and the City of Mandaue. 

Why classify 

The whole length of the channel, which serves as the boundary of the Cebu North Reclamation Area, is also covered back to Quezon Ave. passing along Piers 3, 2 and 1 then back to the point of beginning. 

Pesquera saw the need for classification of the SRP, so it will be in line with the economic activities of the area that will guide future investors and locators. 

SRP, one of the major development projects of the city, is envisioned to be an industrial estate. 

The SRP, which is set to be officially named South Road Properties and the Kawit Island, has been declared a special economic zone. (GAC)

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Discussion Ongoing – SRP Manager (May 2006)

Published: 02 May 2006
by Regina Aguilar


A Cebu-based water company is eyeing to put up a P100-million desalination facility at the South Road Properties (SRP) in a bid to augment the city’s water supply.
SRP manager Paul Villarete said that the discussion with Mactan Rock Industries is still ongoing. 

“Nothing is final yet because the desalination facility is expandable, but we’re looking at the possibility of letting Mactan Rock operate the desalination facility,” said Villarete. 

Lito Maderazo, executive director of Mactan Rock Industries Inc., said the project would push through once the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) approved or accepted their proposal. 

With the owner of the company tagged as a Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) supporter, speculations abound that the proposal will be approved. 

Villarete, however, said that it is impossible to mix water with politics.

“I don’t think it would be an issue because water is too technical. The better one has to be chosen–the one that can offer a guaranteed supply that is not disadvantageous to the government,” said Villarete. 

Maderazo, on the other hand, refuted claims that they are political supporters of the BO-PK.

“Yes, we support the existing head of the local government but not BO-PK itself. But we admit that we admire the investor-friendly local government, which is good for the economic activity of the city,” said Maderazo. 

He said the city government’s desalination facility would not be enough to supply the needs of future locators at the SRP.

“We’re looking at locating and setting up our own desalination facility at the SRP because the capacity of the two desalination units installed by the city government would not be enough to meet the full development requirements of the area,” he said. 

The city government’s desalination units, which were bought from the water company, can only generate 550 cubic meters of water per day. 
The SRP, however, would need a supply of 10,000 cubic meters when it reaches its full development, Maderazo said. 

Mactan Rock’s planned P100-million desalination facility is part of the seven small water project proposals of the company to the MCWD that offers to sell water at a cheaper price.

Mactan Rock has proposed to the MCWD to deliver about 30,000 to 40,000 cubic meters of water for only around P18 per cubic meter.

The MCWD, which is beating deadline to close the Carmen Bulk Water Supply Deal with the consortium of Ayala Corp. and Central Equity Ventures, Inc. (Ayala-CEVI), will have a cheaper deal with Mactan Rock. 

The consortium proposed to sell water at P25.72 per cubic meter, while the MCWD insisted on a price range of between P19 to P23.

Part of the Ayala-CEVI’s price will pay for its investments, including a pipeline that would span the 24-kilometer distance between Carmen town and Liloan town.

But MCWD will also have to build its own pipeline from Liloan to its own distribution network.

Mactan Rock’s offer, on the other hand, would not require the MCWD to build a pipeline infrastructure.

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