Cebu mayor is back (South Road Properties)
CEBU CITY -- Mayor Tomas Osmeña arrived Tuesday morning, immediately took over from Acting Mayor Michael Rama, and spoke of preparing the local economy for “dark clouds on the horizon.”
In a press conference, Osmeña said resolving the manifesto of some barangay captains who pushed for a Raul del Mar-Tomas Osmeña tandem in the 2010 elections is not his priority. Rama will resume working as vice mayor for two weeks.
During these weeks, Osmeña said he would rather focus on meeting more potential investors for the South Road Properties (SRP) and help Filinvest Land Inc. earn more money.
“Whatever the problem is, it is the problem of the vice mayor. I’m not going to waste my time taking up this issue,” he told reporters immediately after addressing a crowd gathered at the Plaza Sugbu outside the Legislative Building.
He said he will not waste his energy trying to sort out the issues, as he wants to leave his mind fresh to attend to his priorities in the two weeks that he is back as mayor.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the mayor has to be back in the United States on March 28 for surgery.
His priority, Osmeña said, is “to establish a policy direction for the SRP,” and to meet with other interested investors of the SRP, whom he declined to identify.
He is also meeting with FLI officials in a dinner Wednesday night to assure them that helping the company “earn a lot of money” is foremost on his mind. He wants FLI to start development right away.
The mayor explained that if the FLI earns because of its 10-hectare purchase and 40-hectare joint venture agreement with the city, the market value of the remaining 250 lots will soar because others would be enticed to pour money in the SRP.
“If Filinvest doesn’t make money, nobody will invest (in the SRP),” Osmeña said.
That is why, he said, he “will not waste (his) time” resolving the barangay chiefs’ manifesto, signed by 40 of the 80 captains.
He, however, told the crowd during the homecoming reception Tuesday afternoon that the election is near so “intrigues are flying about.”
Choices
Without reiterating his earlier endorsement of Rama and City Hall education consultant Joy Augustus Young, he assured the Cebuanos that “whatever (his) decision will be, it is for the interest of the city.”
In a separate interview, Young, a former city councilor and party-list congressman, said disagreements in choices among party members are what have kept the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) alive through the years.
He said Osmeña encourages them to speak out, and coming up with a manifesto is one such form of expression.
In his speech, Osmeña said the city will give the P1,000 Christmas cash gift and another P1,000 as birthday gift for each senior citizen this year from the P250-million surplus last year and the P348-million FLI down payment given last week for the SRP lots Filinvest will develop.
His speech dwelt much on the SRP, which he said will secure the economic future of the city.
He again explained that while the city incurred a P6-billion debt in constructing the SRP, the return on investment is big. For the P2,000 it spent to develop each square meter, for example, the sale price is P15,000, he said.
Osmeña said while there is a recession in the United States and many other countries, the city is “very well-positioned.”
“There are dark clouds on the horizon…. My objective is not only to earn money but to create a good economy,” he said. “We cannot depend on the National Government to save us. We will be part of the solution, not the problem.” (RHM/Sun.Star Cebu)