Group opposes Centcom transfer

URBAN poor groups in barangay Apas, Cebu City expressed opposition to the plan to transfer the headquarters of the Central Command (Centcom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines outside the city.

Officials of the Alliance of Barangay Apas Community Association (Abaca) are requesting the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) to first show them the traffic plans before asking for Centcom’s transfer.

Abaca said in a position paper submitted to the City Council that they are concerned the transfer of Centcom would also mean the dislocation of residents along Lapu-Lapu Avenue.

Members of the City Council called for a public hearing yesterday to discuss Citom’s proposal to relocate Centcom so that the 90-hectare province-owned lot could be converted to commercial use. Opening an access road inside the military camp that will serve as an alternative to the Banilad-Talamban corridor is part of the planned development.

Citom’s proposal to transfer Centcom is not an entirely new idea, as the previous provincial and national administration mulled the transfer.

A plan to vacate the 90-hectare military camp was first discussed by former Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia and national officials in 2007. A memorandum of understanding was entered into on October 12, 2007 between Garcia, defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro, vice president and HUDCC chairman Noli de Castro and DENR Secrtary Jose Atienza Sr.

Yesterday, only Mario Macuro, who read Abaca’s position paper to the council, and Citom office head Rafael Yap, appeared during the public hearing.

Yap said the proposed transfer was discussed by members of the Citom board and embodied in a board resolution passed on August 29. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac