Filinvest to pay City for South Road Properties lots

CEBU City Hall will not get Filinvest Land Inc.’s (FLI) P338-million down payment today as earlier expected after city officials failed to secure a document from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The document is a requirement in the joint venture contract to develop a 50.6-hectare area of the South Road Properties (SRP).

City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said last night that the scheduled signing of the deed of sale and the turnover of FLI’s first payment will not push through today and is postponed to March 5.



Fernandez said they do not consider it a delay because the schedule of payment is 30 days after the awarding and signing of the joint venture contract, which falls on March 5 and not March 3.

“We lack one document from the DENR. Something was left out, the technical description of the SRP lots, but that is not a
problem because the 30th day is not March 3 but March 5, so we will get it on Thursday. It’s no big deal,” he said.

Signing

Other than the technical description of the 10.6-hectare lot purchased by FLI and the 40-hectare joint development properties, the City has prepared the other documents and requirements specified in the contract before Acting Mayor Michael Rama and FLI officials sign the deed of sale.

Fernandez said the City is also prepared to turn over the title of a two-hectare portion to FLI.

The titles of the 10.6-hectare Pond F area of the SRP that are mortgaged with the Land Bank of the Philippines were delivered to the Registry of Deeds yesterday, so they could be split into several titles covering two hectares each.

This would allow the City to turn over one title to FLI so it could comply with one of the firm’s requirements before it starts the development project.

“The title for the two-hectare portion will still be in the name of the City Government but it will be released to FLI... As for the titles of the remaining 48 hectares, it will be returned to Land Bank and will be covered by an escrow agreement until all obligations in the joint venture agreement are settled,” Fernandez said. (LCR)