More jobs seen as CH, firm open 1st movie studio in RP (South Road Properties)
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Saturday, November 08, 2008
WITH promise of livelihood and job opportunities for ordinary Cebuanos, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced yesterday the opening of the first international movie studio in the country at the South Road Properties (SRP).
Bigfoot Entertainment’s two-hectare complex, dubbed as the Hollywood of Asia, will be inaugurated today, and is seen to create a lot of job opportunities and livelihood even for the urban poor.
Osmeña will join Bigfoot Global Solutions’ owner and president Michael Gleissner for the opening at 10:30 a.m., before proceeding to the Cebu City Sports Center for his 2 p.m. State of the City Address (Soca).
Considered a preview of this afternoon’s Soca, the mayor gave a speech at City Hall yesterday, discussing his health condition, his indefinite leave, his vision for the SRP and Cebu City, and the prospect of losing his hair when he undergoes chemotherapy in the US.
Although a prepared draft of his Soca mentions his sentiments for the Cebuanos as he prepares to leave, and a revisiting of his 22 years in Cebu, the mayor said he will not dwell on his illness when he faces thousands of Cebuanos today.
“I will talk about my health but I will not dwell on it. I will say that I won’t be able to come back after until Christmas, or maybe longer,” Osmeña said, adding that he will focus on the vision, directions and strategies of the City.
At the social hall yesterday, the mayor broke the rather somber mood when he told the crowd that urinary bladder cancer will make him lose his hair and sex appeal, drawing laughter from the visitors.
“Dili ko kasulti unsay epekto sa chemotherapy because sometimes mahulog kuno ang imong hair, mawala akong sex appeal. Ambot lang kaha kung ganahan ba mo na mubalik ko na wala na’y sex appeal (I can’t say what the effects of the chemotherapy will be. I could lose my hair and my sex appeal. I don’t know if you’d still want me back without my sex appeal),” he said in jest.
“In the meantime, many people are concerned but wala na tay mahimo. Whatever is there, is there we just have to deal with it. Now whatever happens to the City, it’s a good opportunity for the vice mayor to prove himself,” he continued.
While he is not prepared to lose his hair, Osmeña said this is the least of his concerns when he gave his doctors instructions to pursue aggressive chemotherapy when he returns to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas next week.
In a speech delivered before some 200 city officials and employees, businessmen, government officials and friends at the City Hall yesterday, the mayor announced the opening of the complex, which he said will boost the country’s movie industry.
“This will have a multiplier effect in terms of job opportunities, everyone will benefit from this industry. They spend $40 million to make a movie and a lot of people are given jobs, from the accountant to the costume maker, the cameramen. And the actors come here and spend their money here, eat in the restaurants, go to the spa, mudaghan ang mga masahista, daghan ang makatrabaho” said Osmeña.
Aside from the opening of the Bigfoot Entertainment complex, the first locator at the SRP, Osmeña will also report today other developments on the 302-hectare facility, including the proposed transport system and security measures there.
He announced yesterday the ongoing negotiations with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to have some 110 personnel of the Citizens’ Armed Forces Geographical Units (Cafgu) guard the SRP.
The AFP will provide a six-month training and firearms to the Cafgu personnel, while the City will take care of their uniforms.
For its part, the City will give the personnel honorarium and financial assistance.
Also yesterday, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) assured that security will be tight at the sports center area to ensure the safety of the people.
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador said they anticipate the thick crowd that will gather for the Soca, that is why they will field a sufficient number of policemen to secure the area and to prevent crimes.
Meanwhile, City Hall does not expect to finalize the sale of a portion of the SRP to Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) until mid-January yet after some legal matters delayed the negotiations.
When before the city officials were optimistic that it will make a sale before the end of the year, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said yesterday that the projected date of the signing of the joint venture (JV) agreement will be on Jan. 17 yet.
The JV Selection Committee (JVSC) prepared a new timetable for the expected progress on the negotiations with FLI.
Fernandez said that the delay was due to FLI’s failure to submit on time the proposed JV agreement, which they had to refer to their lawyers for review. FLI is expected to submit the proposal today.
“We made a new timetable and the final signing is set on Jan. 17 because there were legal requirements that had to be complied with, more on the part of Filinvest, mostly internal. But the timetable is subject to change if things go wrong in the negotiations,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
And because Osmeña and other City officials have been discussing the JV terms and conditions with FLI for over two years already, Fernandez said he expects the negotiations to proceed smoothly.
“What we’re doing now is only for formality because the substance of the deal has been discussed for two years already. The signing of the sale would have been earlier but nadelay ta gamay because last week, Filinvest did not submit the proposed JV agreement because of some legal concerns,” he continued.
FLI is offering to buy 13 hectares of land at the SRP and develop 40 hectares under a JV agreement with the City Government for a high-rise and medium-rise condominium complex, retirement facility and office buildings.
Even if there are some delays, the City is expected to receive a portion of the initial down payment for the sale by Nov. 22, when the JVSC holds the first publication of the FLI offer as part of the bidding process.
Under the City’s guidelines in entering into a JV agreement with private entities, which was patterned after the National Government’s guidelines, FLI will be required to make a deposit of one percent of the total project cost upon the first publication.
If the first phase of FLI’s project will cost P25 billion, the City will get some P250 million by Nov. 22, Fernandez said.
“Once they pay us the one percent, that can be interpreted as a sale. But if your interpretation of a sale is the signing of the agreement, then that will be on Jan. 17,” Fernandez added.
According to the timetable prepared by the JVSC, they expect to declare the negotiations successful on Nov. 11, and hold the first and second publication on Nov. 22 and Nov. 29, respectively.
Other qualified developers who will match the FLI offer will be given until Dec. 29 to submit their complete counter proposals.
By Jan. 8, the JVSC already expects to award the contract to the winning bidder and endorse it to the City Council for approval. (With MEA