[ sunstar.com.ph ] November 12, 2008
Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Garry A. Cabotaje
CEBU CITY -- Except for the unfilled Pond A and a two-hectare disputed lot, all other lots at the South Road Properties (SRP) spanning 210 hectares are covered by titles, records at the Registry of Deeds showed.
This is why Cebu City officials are confident that issues on the titling and previous claims by the Talisay City Government and other parties will not affect the marketing and sale of SRP lots.
The report that all SRP lots have been titled in Cebu City's name surprised Talisay City officials on Tuesday.
"We will check on this. I still have to get an update," said City Administrator Richel Bacaltos. He was meeting with City Planning and Development Coordinator Christine Homez when his comment was sought Tuesday afternoon.
During the stint of former Talisay City mayor and now Representative Eduardo Gullas (Cebu Province, 1st district), Talisay staked its claim on 53.44 hectares within the SRP.
Gullas had said that Cebu City reclaimed land within Talisay's municipal waters without permission.
Last Monday, Cebu City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete told Sun.Star Cebu the entire SRP was already declared, in a presidential proclamation, to be within Cebu City and owned by the City Government.
A copy of Original Certificate of Title 0-3581-A, issued on September 22, 2005, showed that it covers 210 hectares of land, including those at the boundary of Talisay and Cebu City.
Sun.Star Cebu checked with the Registry of Deeds Tuesday and learned that the SRP lots have already been subdivided and that the office has canceled the OCT and approved the Transfer Certificates of Title for six parcels of land.
Villarete said Tuesday that the City applied for the subdivision of the lots to make it easier for them to manage the properties.
He also said the only untitled lots within the 302-hectare SRP are the 60-hectare unfilled Pond A, the close to three-hectare portion claimed by the Ting family and at least 20 hectares of roads and sidewalks.
"Whatever it is that other parties are saying now, it does not change the fact that the entire SRP has been titled under the name of the Cebu City Government. A presidential proclamation has stated that it is within the territorial jurisdiction of Cebu City and it is owned by the City," Villarete told Sun.Star Cebu.
Pending?
Although Talisay City officials claimed some portions of the SRP, he said the claim was rejected by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) for lack of basis and supporting documents.
But in an interview Tuesday, Cenro officer-in-charge Loreto Rivac said that claims over the SRP lots were referred to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria).
"That conflict on the political boundary between Talisay and Cebu can't be finalized without both parties agreeing to the exact boundary, so it remains unresolved. As far as I know, that conflict remains unsettled," Riva said in a phone interview.
At the 888 News Forum at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, SRP Management Office Head Nagiel Bañacia said that SRP lot titles are no longer an issue when they market and sell the SRP to possible investors.
"Dili mupalit ang Filinvest ug dili sila kakita sa titles. Everything has been titled under the name of the Cebu City Government, so the title is no longer an issue here," he told the forum.
Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) is proposing to buy 10 hectares of land at the SRP, and develop 40 more hectares under a joint venture agreement with the City.
The City is now negotiating with FLI on the terms and conditions of the sale and the joint venture. (Linette C. Ramos with Garry A. Cabotaje of Sun.Star Cebu)
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