Return Malacañang Sugbu to Customs, Tomas says
RATHER than donate office space at the South Road Properties (SRP), it’s better for Cebu City to return the Malacañang sa Sugbu building to the Bureau of Customs, said Rep. Tomas Osmeña.
He objected anew to Mayor Michael Rama’s offer to donate an SRP lot to the Bureau of Customs which wants to move back into the Malacañanga sa Sugbo.
Osmeña, who has frequently criticized the mayor’s handling of the 300-hectare SRP, said what the BOC needed was an office space for immediate use and not a vacant lot.
“They need to move out of their existing building because it’s already a danger zone. You can’t move them into an open lot,” he said.
Mayor Rama earlier said he didn’t want to return Malacañang sa Sugbo to the BOC because the building that was used by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was an important landmark in the city.
Rama said the city needed this as s part of a heritage zone that includes Fort San Pedro, Plaza Independencia, the Gotiaoco Building, and Compaña Maritima.
He said he is following up his request to the Palace to turn over the building to the city government. Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon earlier wrote President Benigno Aquino III seeking for the return of the post-war building to the BOC.
Biazon said their present office in the Cebu port area was extensively damaged when a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit last February, making it unsafe for occupancy.
“He (Rama) is not listening. There is danger there (at the existing BOC office) that is placing people’s lives at risk,” said Osmeña.
He said the city should give back Malacañang sa Sugbu to BOC because of the immediacy of their concern.
“That building has been there for 100 years and you can always get it back later on if the BOC manages to locate new office space,” he said. Correspondent Edison delos Angeles
