MERGED: South Road Properties (SRP) News, Issues, and Developments

[tolstoi]

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SHE IS MADDENING AS HELL..brayt pa kaha tawag ana?

[lloydjon]

ASPIRING Cebu City mayor Mary Ann delos Santos will immediately “return” the 240-hectare South Road Properties to the National Government, if she wins in the election.

Delos Santos said yesterday that she doesn’t mind whatever repercussions her planned move will have on the City’s economy and credit standing, but she doesn’t want to shell out P1.7 million a day for debt servicing alone if she becomes mayor.


Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007

The amount, she said, should be used to deliver basic services in health, housing and education.

But for Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Cebu City needs the SRP because it cannot rely on taxes alone to fund the programs and projects that 10 various sectors asked for during a candidates’ forum yesterday.

Osmeña and delos Santos faced separately representatives of the business, migrant wor-kers, vendors, farmers, fishermen, urban poor, children, youth, persons with disabilities and elderly sectors during the People’s Forum 2007.

When asked by a farmer what she intends to do with the SRP, delos Santos said she will ask for the suspension of loan payments as soon as she is elected mayor.

“I will ask for the suspension of payments then atong iuli ang SRP sa National Government. After all, it’s already there and the City can still benefit from it. But we’ll let the National Government assume responsibility for the loan,” she told some 100 representatives of different sectors.

Even if the SRP is turned over to the National Government, delos Santos is confident the City can still earn and benefit from it through jobs generation, “because they cannot physically remove the reclaimed land.”

“The bottom line of all your concerns is money…. It’s better to put a stop to the debt that is costing P1.7 million a day, that can still save the City of Cebu. Nganong ato man gyung ipugos? I will not engage in business in behalf of the City in relation to the SRP,” she continued.

Virgilio Crystal, who represented the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), told delos Santos that services can be provided if she waits for the SRP to start earning.

“What will I do? What will happen to my promises here if I have a P1.7-million debt to pay every day? That’s true, we can fund the services granting that the SRP can be sold but with the ongoing case, it can’t be sold,” delos Santos added.

Tinago Barangay Captain Joel Garganera filed a case recently asking the court to stop city officials from marketing, selling, disposing of or leasing the SRP, saying the property is a public domain and is therefore not owned by the City Government.

“Then perhaps you can just talk to your people and tell them to withdraw the case,” Crystal told delos Santos during the open forum.

In an interview after the activity at the Eduardo Aboitiz Study Center, the businessman warned delos Santos of the repercussions of her planned move, which he said will be damaging to the City’s economy.

“We look at the SRP in a way businessmen would, you just gamble.

In any business, there’s a gestation period, it takes time to get the desired income. If we stop paying for the loan, the credit standing of the City will go down and you can’t get loans in the future,” Crystal said.

He also agreed with Osmeña that taxes are not enough to support the City’s project and programs.

At the start of the forum, the mayor said he is willing to face the issues on the SRP squarely.

The SRP, he said, is another income source other than taxes, which the City can tap for improved services.

“I’ll face it squarely. The issue on whether services have been sacrificed because of the debt payments for SRP is something I’m willing to challenge,” he said.

Despite the P500 million in loan payments a year, the City has managed to provide P5,000 in burial assistance, buy brand new police cars and implement projects in the barangays.

“What’s the logic behind the SRP? So we can own the property. Naa tay yuta, naa tay kwarta. We have to find ways to be self reliant financially so we took steps. Tinood gaagwanta gyud ta pero naay kwarta,” Osmeña added.

[lloydjon]

nag pa ila lang jud ka mary ann nga wala kai alamag sa SRP bisan dagko kaau na matabang sa city. kung wala lang jud nag pugong2x ug angkon2x.

tawn pud nimo dai gigamit lang jud ka nila...

[chilton82]

How can the city rely on taxes alone if it will have to keep on paying 1.7 million pesos per day just to pay the debt for the SRP Unsaon pagka-igo if TOmas relies only on taxes when your paying 1.7 milion pesos per day just to pay that debt? Do the math please...kay after all dili man na bright jud kaha.

[tolstoi]

How can the city rely on taxes alone if it will have to keep on paying 1.7 million pesos per day just to pay the debt for the SRP Unsaon pagka-igo if TOmas relies only on taxes when your paying 1.7 milion pesos per day just to pay that debt? Do the math please...kay after all dili man na bright jud kaha.

bai once investments will pour in, the city will eventually earn billions in prime property sale..not to mention that it will bring 100,000 jobs for the Cebuanos..extra income could be generated from the business & income taxes..etc etc...NOW YOU DO THE FRIGGIN MATH!

MADls is not a visionary unlike TOMAS..SHE deserves to govern a place where people would admire her CAMOTE planting projects..prolly in the hinterlands

[tolstoi]

A BLOG BY CHIZ SCUDERO REGARDING SRP....

you will be my #1 SENATOR this coming election sir :mrgreen:

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Cebu’s South Reclamation Project to boost economic growth of the region

I support the Cebu City government in its claim that the South Reclamation Project’s (SRP) transfer of ownership is valid and required no congressional approval after a local leader disputed in court the legality of the land transfer and its lease.

This is my reaction to queries about the transfer of the national government of an approximately 330 hectares of land to the city government without congressional authority.

Without in any way interfering or influencing the outcome of the case, I am of the firm belief that under the local government code, other existing laws and relevant decision of the Supreme Court, the national government’s transfer of the reclaimed area’s full ownership to Cebu City is legal and as such, made it a patrimonial property of the city. This is my reaction as a lawyer and as a teacher of Land Titles and Decrees at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Being a patrimonial property of the city, it may dispose of it in any way it deems necessary as provided by Section 22 of the Local Government Code and it can lease or sell portions of the SRP to private individuals as well as qualified corporations.

The Cebu City South Reclamation Project, now the South Road Properties (SRP), funded from a loan given by the Japanese government, aims to reduce poverty incidence and accelerate economic growth in Metro Cebu as export processing zones and light industries are envisioned to sprout on the reclaimed area, bringing in 100,000 jobs for Cebuanos.

The project, a major endeavor of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, would also boost further the tourism industry in the region as condominiums and hotels would also rise on its beachfront.

In our fight against poverty, political differences should be set aside as far more important matters, like this one, should first be addressed.

http://chizescudero.blogs.friendster.com/
http://chizescudero.blogs.friendster.com/
http://chizescudero.blogs.friendster.com/

[lloydjon]

HELLO MARY ANN..WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FOR MAYOR LIKE CITY OF CEBU.UNSA PAG TUO NIMO ANI BARANGAY LAHUG GIHAPUN IMO GIDALA...

[kamikaze426]

Big blow to MADS campaign kay she is already branded "ANTI-BUSINESS".

[revax the great]

South Reclemation Project will be controlled by the National Goverment... Agree or Dis-agree? Any Opinons

For me I dis-agree with this resolution because, i want only Cebu City and the Cebuanos to benifit from SRP...
sound selfish but for me its called "Practicallity"....

[supergirl425]

anti-business MADS. SRP could benefit us cebuanos. HOORAH! to our visionary leader TOMMY. MADS doesn't deserve to be mayor. ang cebu city dili man cguro pareha ug barangay lahug or probinxa, dba? we should pick a mayor who has our best interests at heart and who can improve our city. mary ann wants change. change from what? from NO corruption and prosperity?