Del Mars hold off funds for second condo project

URBAN poor families who stay in the old Lorega San Miguel cemetery will have to wait longer for a second urban poor condominium to be built for them.

Former congressman Raul del Mar said that he and his daughter Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar decided to postpone processing funds for construction until after the May 2013 elections and when a new city mayor is elected.

Del Mar said he and his daughter decided on this move saying it was difficult to deal with Mayor Michael Rama who “didn’t share their programs for the poor”.

Relations between the del Mars and Mayor Rama were severely strained when the mayor led opposition last year to the rise of two new flyovers in Cebu City sponsored by the father and daughter.

“What can we do if that’s the attitude of the mayor? How can we work with him? He brought this on himself,” said Raul in his message during the turnover of the newly renovated Guba District Hospital on Friday.

Del Mar said he allocated P20 million from his Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF) when he was still a congressman to help in the city’s delivery of health services. Of the amount, P14 million was spent on the renovation and acquisition of new equipment for Guba District Hospital.

Del Mar’s PDAF also shouldered P10 million of the P12 million cost of the Lorega Condoville 1 project, which was built in coordination with the Gawad Kalinga. The three-story project with 60 urban poor condominium units, occupies part of the 9,000-sq. m. cemetery lot that the city council declared a socialized housing site through a 2010 council resolution./Correspondent Edison A. delos Angeles