CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will now leave it up to Vice Mayor Michael Rama to handle the problem on the payment for the Ting property, and said that he should not be blamed for the foiled compromise agreement.

“Let Vice Mayor Rama handle it. The ball is in his hands, I already made my point. He will assume the responsibility, being the lawyer,” the mayor said yesterday.

Businessman Roque Ting has backed out of the verbal compromise agreement with city officials, which would have gotten him P13.5 million for his lot at the South Road Properties (SRP), instead of the P38.9 million that the Regional Trial Court ordered the City to pay.

He told Sun.Star Cebu that he had enough of the criticisms against the compromise payment, which he said put the mayor in a bad light.

Lest his cancer comes back, Osmeña said that he will not renegotiate with Ting for the latter to reconsider his decision.

“Just like Pontius Pilate, I will wash my hands and do ‘no Ting.’ I don’t know who is to be blamed for what but perhaps VM Rama should have voiced his concerns privately instead of making a negative public statement hurting the sensitivities of Mr. Ting,” he said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu.

During the budget hearing last week, Rama had cautioned city officials on the P13.5-million lot payment, saying that legal issues remain unresolved, including reports that half of the 4,222-square-meter property is underwater.

Osmeña said yesterday that Rama’s statements reminded him of the latter’s privilege speech in 2006, where he questioned the land swap agreement between the mayor and Gov. Gwen Garcia.

“It reminds me of the ‘dawat limpyo’ speech insulting the Province and scuttling the land swap. I tried to reverse that and failed and consider that the biggest failure of my administration. If you are asking whether I will try to ask Mr. Ting to reconsider, my answer is no. My cancer might come back.

I’m at the end of my term and Mike Rama will take over,” he continued.

When sought for comment on the mayor’s statement, Rama said that he has not received any notice from the mayor yet regarding the matter.

He said that the City Council would just wait for the executive department and the negotiators to decide on the matter.

“We are still of the view that we don’t want to get in the way of the compromise. We will help for as long as all the documentation and all the requirements are addressed,” said Rama.

He will also not talk to Ting about the matter, saying it is not appropriate for him to do so because he is no longer the acting mayor.

A day after the budget hearing, Osmeña and Rama agreed to meet halfway, and decided that the City would only be paying for the 2,300-square-meter dry portion of Ting’s property, but the amount would still be P13.5 million.

The mayor had said that this is so because the RTC already ordered the City to pay, and that’s the amount that Ting offered as a compromise payment, instead of waiting for the Court of Appeals (CA) to decide on the case.

High and dry

Ting had maintained the 4,222-square-meter lot was all dry land when the Metro Cebu Development Project used it for the SRP.

Toyo Construction, he said, carved up a man-made channel across his property to serve as demarcation between the cities of Talisay and Cebu.

That is why, Ting said, only 2,300 square meters of the lot is dry land.

He is resolute not to sign any compromise agreement even if begged by Rama and other Cebu City Hall officials.

He is confident the CA will uphold the Jan. 8., 2008 Regional Trial Court verdict, which awarded him P38.9 million for his property.

He said that after the CA decision, that would be the time that he may reconsider and entertain settlement overtures from the City.

Bargained

He earlier said he is willing to have the matter reach the Supreme Court, hurt that Osmeña is getting the flak because he accepted his request for a compromise.

He said he really wanted P20 million as compromise payment after the RTC ordered the City to pay him P38.9 million for his property.

In consideration for the mayor, however, he said he agreed to a lower amount.

In 2006, Ting sued the City Government for demolishing his warehouses and encroaching on his property when the SRP was implemented in 1998.

But that was after the City Council refused to authorize the payment of P9 million over questions on whether or not his property was all dry land.