Judge rules city owns SRP
The Freeman
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge Soliver Peras has ruled that Presidential Proclamation Order No. 843 transferring the ownership of the South Reclamation Project to Cebu City even without a congressional authority is within the bounds of the law.
This means the city legally owns the SRP and the court dismissed the civil case filed by former Tinago barangay captain Joel Garganera, who wanted that Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña and other City Hall officials be prohibited from selling or even leasing to anybody any part of the 295-hectare reclaimed area that was funded through a loan from Japan.
Garganera and his lawyers are planning to file a motion for reconsideration on the order of the court and would take it as far as the Supreme Court if necessary.
Peras ruled that President Arroyo has the power to issue Proclamation 843, which transferred ownership of the SRP from the national government to the Cebu City government and declared such lands as alienable and disposable even without the concurrence of the Congress.
Garganera has argued that the land at the SRP is classified as public domain, which means that it is owned by the state.
He cited the Supreme Court decision in Laurel vs. Garcia, which declared that “it is not for the President to convey real property of the government on his or her own sole will.”
Judge Peras said the Supreme Court clearly stated in its ruling in the case of Francisco Chavez vs. Public Estates Authority that the President has the authority to classify inalienable lands of the public domain, pursuant to section 6 of Commonwealth Act 141.
Garganera, an ally of Osmena’s political rival and former mayor Alvin Garcia and opposition leader Lahug barangay captain Mary Ann delos Santos, argued that granting that the President Arroyo’s proclamation is legal, the City of Cebu is still not authorized by the law to dispose the reclaimed properties without a go signal from Congress.
But Peras said the Supreme Court has already stated in several of its rulings that “to validly classify reclaimed lands as alienable and disposable, there must either be a law passed by Congress declaring it or a presidential proclamation.
“As such, the local government of the City of Cebu, being a corporation vested with the power to acquire real properties, can dispose of the same either through lease or sale. Being the owner, therefore, of the said property, the Cebu City government has the prerogative to do whatever is necessary to develop the SRP,” Judge Peras ruled.
The judge added that “it may not be amiss to consider the fact that it is the local government of the City of Cebu that is paying the loan used in the development of the SRP, as well as the interest thereof.”
When Osmena was informed about Garganera’s next move to bring the issue before the Supreme Court, the mayor said, “Garganera and Mary Ann de los Santos will do anything in their power to destroy the SRP. They should have their heads examined. Since they have nothing better to offer the Cebuanos, they want to demolish Cebu so they can emerge from the ruins and blame it on me.”
The mayor added that “we will never let that to happen. Its clear that they have no talent in building, I thank God they have no talent in destroying.”
According to Osmena the bad publicity made by Garganera for the SRP can turn off investors who may have been or are interested to purchase portions of the SRP, thereby causing losses in projected income for the city.
At present, only Bigfoot Entertainment Inc. had entered a business deal with City Hall by leasing two-hectare of SRP lot for 25 years at P5 million a year.
De los Santos said, “regarding SRP as business venture, it is a very lucrative and good business venture (sic). But one thing that hounds SRP is the legal issue, RTC has made its decision so be it, at least once and for all there is no cloud of doubt as to the legal issue. I personally is (sic) not anti-SRP or anti-progress.”
During the campaign period of the elections last May, de los Santos said that if she would win as mayor, she would return the SRP to the national government.
She said that it had to be done to unburden the city of the huge debt it incurred with the project.—(/NLQ)