NEWS BRIEFS

HOT LOGS SEIZED IN CARCAR

COAST Guard personnel intercepted a motorized banca loaded with lumber in the waters off Carcar City, southern Cebu yesterday noon.

The banca came from Cantilan-Tandag, Surigao del Sur and was loaded with 140 pieces of Lawaan worth nearly half a million pesos.

Coast Guard Commander Rolando Punzalan Jr. said the crew was unable to present documents for the transported lumber.

Each piece of cut Lawaan lumber measured 7,000 board feet.

The Coast Guard was tipped off Thursday night about the delivery.

Jade Santilan of the Naval Intelligence Support Group said the four crew members didn’t reveal the identity of the shipment’s owner.

The seized lumber were turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7).

Three crew members Bernard Ebueza, Warren Lumontod and his brothers Zacarias and Anthony were detained in the Waterfront police precinct in Cebu City. Correspondent Rhea Ruth Rosell

COUNCIL ASKS FOR EXPROPRIATION UPDATES

ASIDE from the Rallos lot dispute case, what other expropriation cases does City Hall have to deal with?

The Cebu City Council asked this of the City Legal Office after a resolution sought authority from Mayor Michael Rama to sign an expropriation case for a lot beside the Cebu City Police Office.

The parcel of land is now used as an access road to the Cebu Business Park. The resolution was filed by Councilor Jose Daluz III, Rama’s ally.

“This is another problem in the making,” said Councilor Augustus Pe in Wednesday’s session.

The council asked for an update from City Legal Office representative Mary Ann Suson on the expropriation cases faced by the city. The lot used as access road is owned by Apolonio Dedamo Jr.

Suson said the City Legal Office is filing a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court (SC) to question the lower court’s decision on the expropriation case.

While she couldn’t give the exact size of the land in the expropriation proceedings, Suson said a Regional Trial Court (RTC) set its price at P12, 500 per sq. meter.

She said the court ordered the city to pay Dedamo about P1 million for the land which the city expropriated in 1992, excluding interest.

Daluz said the city has until next Wednesday to file the petition for certiorari before the SC.

Pe said the city government should learn from the Rallos lot expropriation case to prevent similar problems in the future.

The city government already paid P56 million to the Rallos heirs over a lot taken in the 1960s.

A court order for Cebu City to pay another P133 million, including interest charges, is being challenged by Mayor Michael Rama. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac