CEBU Provincial Board (PB) Member Juan Bolo denied yesterday that he benefited from the purchase of the Balili property in Naga, a flawed deal that compelled the governor to apologize this week.

Bolo said he was planning to submit his “irrevocable resignation” as chairman of the PB provincial and municipal properties committee today.

The Provincial Government has sent demand letters to the Balili heirs, asking them to return P37.8 million. The amount covered 9.4 hectares that turned out to be submerged or covered by mangroves. The entire beachfront property spans 25 hectares in Barangay Tinaan, Naga.

Bolo flatly denied he received a “commission” from the P98-million sale and said he was merely assisting the Province.

Bolo also challenged those who accused him of receiving a large sum to verify with lawyer Romeo Balili, the property’s executor, or Amparo Balili, widow of the late Engr. Luis Balili.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia told a press conference last Saturday that Bolo “was the first person and the only person during the entire period of negotiations who talked to me regarding the Balili property.”

She said she never met nor negotiated with Lumen Durano, the broker for the Balili property.

But in a mobile phone interview yesterday, Bolo said it was the governor who instructed him to proceed with the negotiations for the purchase.

Interviewed separately, Majority Floor Leader Victor Maambong said the PB may provide the Office of the Governor with the minutes of their July 27 session, when Bolo claimed it was Governor Garcia who instructed him to negotiate for the purchase.

“These are public documents,” Maambong said.

Maambong said he believes the PB members have done their part in scrutinizing the transaction, adding that they relied on the presented titles of the property and a committee report from Bolo.

Study

“We did our collective efforts to study well the resolution,” said Maambong. He added Garcia should be “credited” for “acting swiftly” on the flawed property sale.

Capitol spokesperson Rory Jon Sepulveda, when sought for his reaction yesterday, declined to further comment on the issue.

“I am tasked to investigate the matter. I cannot comment as of now,” Sepulveda said in a text message.

According to Bolo, he was approached sometime in 2006 by Durano, who told him that the Balili property was up for sale. Until 2007, Bolo said that Durano frequently followed up.

In May 2007, a few days after the elections, Bolo recalled that Governor Garcia “instructed” him to proceed with the negotiation for the purchase.

Bolo said he requested the governor to have the appraisal committee assess the property.

Bolo, as the PB provincial and municipal properties committee chairperson, said he then wrote the appraisal committee.

At first, Bolo said, the committee’s assessed value of the property stood at P610 per square meter, subsequently reduced to P434 per square meter.

The Provincial Government only agreed to buy the property when it was pegged at P400 per square meter, said Bolo.

Despite the present conflict over the purchase, Bolo said he remained supportive of Governor Garcia’s administration