Cebu City Council sees longer grace period to negotiate

Extend the six months grace period authorized by Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia for the renegotiation and purchase of 93-1 lots by its occupants.

This is the call of Cebu City councilors and government agencies working to address the concerns of 93-1 occupants.

As of yesterday, the Social Housing Finance Corp. hadn’t received any application from the 5,000 93-1 lot occupants who would want to avail of the Community Mortgage Program (CMP), said engineer Randolph Librando, head of the Social Housing Finance Corp.

The provincial government have properties located in barangays Camputhaw, Capitol Site, Kalunasan, Busay, Luz, Lahug, Mabolo, Apas, Lorega, Kasambagan and Tejero which are now occupied by city residents.

Governor Garcia wanted to renegotiate with lot occupants most of whom have unfinished contracts with the provincial government, for the acquisition of their assigned properties.

The Cebu City Council met with lot occupants and national government line agencies like HUDCC, NHA, Pag-ibig and the social housing finance corp. during a public hearing yesterday to discuss the status of the ongoing negotiations.

Councilor Alvin Dizon, head of the council’s housing, committee said that he and other council members wanted to be “actively involved” in the 93-1 discussions.

“While the Capitol may have the aces being the lot owner, the council also has the right to be informed (of the status of ongoing discussions) because the issue involves 5,000 families,” he said.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said that negotiations should be left with the executive department since the governor “does not want them (city council members).”

Rama said the Capitol own the lots and the city through the executive department could only make representations on behalf of the occupants and maybe later come up with a buffer funds which they could use for their socialized housing program.

According to National Housing Authority in Central Visayas (NHA-7) data, there are 3, 300 structures and 5, 000 household occupants in 93-1 lots.

However, engineer Gino Figuracion, NHA-7 director, said that results of the Sept. to Nov. 2011 survey showed that the structures increased to 4,000 while the number of occupants increased to 7,384.

Figuracion said the results of the survey and other data of lot occupants including their monthly net income were already submitted to Garcia for consideration in the new lot pricing.

He said pricing would be based on the properties zonal valuation, its fair market value and appraised value by the provincial government.

Lot acquisition may be done through the CMP, Pag-Ibig housing loan or direct purchase, said Figuracion, who added that those who would opt for CMP may avail of a P90, 000 loan maximum with the social housing finance corp.

Pag-ibig on the other hand is offering a maximum loanable amount of P400,000 for each beneficiary.

Figuracion said that cuts may be introduced on lots now occupied by families who wouldn’t qualify to own their assigned lots because of income shortage.

“The properties will have to be subdivided based on their loanable amount and capability to pay off their loans. We may have to lower the area of some of the properties,” he said.

If this happens, Figuracion said, it will now be up to the city government to do the reblocking.

Librando said that he already furnished DWUP a checklist of requirements for the CMP program but as of yesterday, no one has availed of funding help from their office.

The council will meet DWUP head Collin Rosell to an executive session to separately discuss 93-1 concerns with him.

Rama said that he already authorized Rosell to appear before the council.

Emily Malto, head of the 93-1 Movement, said during the public hearing that lot beneficiaries wish to be involved in ongoing negotiations to fix the new prices of the properties they occupy.

“We do not know how much is the pricing… We hope that this (negotiations) will not be tainted with political color,” she said.

She also said that she was concerned if the negotiations would be completed within the six months grace period given by Governor Garcia since many of the 93-1 lots hadn’t been subdivided yet.