Filinvest gave best offer for South Road Properties lots – Tomas

By Marian Christie Codilla
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 12:24:00 03/27/2008

A REAL estate firm has the inside track among interested investors negotiating for prime South Road Property (SRP) lots.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said Filinvest Land Inc. has the best offer among the two other investors – SM group and Ayala group.



“I have to look at what is best for the city and so I have to accept the best offer and that is Filinvest,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña, however, did not give the details of the proposal. He said the deal will have to be closed at the proper time because it has to undergo a public bidding.

“I don't mind disclosing (details) but some of them are sensitive about these matters. There is a pressure when we disclose this case because if so, we would have to stop negotiating with SM and Ayala," he said.

He said the best option for the city is to make a deal with only one party and then negotiate with the other two parties.

He said he has not yet started talking with SM and Ayala but they had submitted their offers but he rejected them.

Osmeña earlier said that the three investors were interested to acquire 40 hectares to 50 hectares of the 300 hectare SRP.

He said one investor is interested to construct a high-rise condominium and a mall at the SRP.

Osmeña said that the downpayment of P500 million he expects to receive from one of the investors is enough to pay for this year's amortization with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The city government allocates at least P500 million from its annual budget for paying loans for the SRP worth P6 billion. Of the amount, only P300 million represents payment of the city's debt with JBIC while the remaining P200 million is shared by the national government and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

The national government through the Department of Finance act as the guarantor of the city's loan while LBP is the city's depository bank.
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