Garganera sues City Officials over South Road Properties Sale

The Freeman 03/27/2007

Mayor Tomas Osmeña and all elected city officials were sued yesterday before the Regional Trial Court by Tinago barangay captain Joel Garganera who asked that the defendants be prevented from selling and leasing the 295-hectare South Road Properties.

Garganera claimed the SRP is still considered owned by the national government even if President Gloria Arroyo has already issued Proclamation No. 843 on May 16, 2005 transferring the ownership of the reclamation project to the city.

Lawyers Lito Astillero and Noel Adlawan, who spoke on behalf of Garganera, explained that the Proclamation No. 843 issued by Arroyo was considered void in the beginning because she did it without congressional authority.

Garganera said there must be congressional authority empowering the president to transfer ownership of the SRP to the Cebu City government and a congressional authority allowing Cebu City to sell the properties to the public.

Garganera's lawyers cited a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Laurel vs. Garcia that concluded that a law is needed to convey any real property belonging to the government.

Garganera also said the SRP can be sold only to qualified Filipino citizens and never to private corporations or associations, and the area to be sold to any private individuals after a public bidding should not exceed 12 hectares.

While the private corporations are not allowed to buy the SRP, but the law authorizes private corporations or associations to lease a portion of the public property for a period of 25 years and maybe renewed and extended once for the same period.

Aside from Osmeña and the members of the Cebu City Council, the Cebu Investment Promotions Incorporated and the Registry of Deeds were also named defendants in the civil case.

Garganera asked the court to prohibit the City Council from granting any authority to Osmeña to sell or lease the SRP lots.

Osmeña said his lawyers are ready to answer all the arguments of Garganera, whose purpose, the mayor says, is to destroy the city.

"We are doing our best to build Cebu City, they are also doing their best to destroy it," Osmeña told the reporters.

But Garganera, who is identified with the opposition camp of former mayor Alvin Garcia, clarified that he is not anti-Cebu and what he is doing is protecting the city from possible suits by foreign investors in the future.

The reclamation of the South Road Properties was funded by a loan obtained by the government from Japan, through its international financing institution - formerly called Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund now Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

In the loan agreements between the OECF and Land Bank of the Philippines, the City of Cebu was designated as the project implementor. A sub-loan agreement was made between LBP and Cebu City government. - Rene U. Borromeo/BRP