Equitable solution
Vice President Jejomar Binay made a stop in Cebu City amid what his staff described as a cross country tour to discuss solutions to problems of illegal settlers.
Binay could have handled the plight of the Mahiga Creek settlers. After all, he did promise to help resolve their problem at the height of the May demolition dispute between the Cebu City Council and Mayor Michael Rama. But parachuting national government officials don’t get to pick the issues at hand so the vice president had to settle for the 93-1 lot dispute between the city and the province, which has been dragging for five years.
The parties had plenty to say at Wednesday’s forum.
Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district took yet another opportunity to publicly berate his successor, Rama, for torpedoing negotiations between Cebu City Hall and the Capitol with his “dawat limpyo” remark in 2007.
Despite their disagreements, Rama, Binay and Osmeña agreed on one thing: the Capitol holds the key to the solution of the plight of urban poor settlers occupying lots in Cebu City covered by Provincial Ordinance 93-1.
Osmeña accurately pointed out that it is the seeming lack of sincerity of the Capitol administration to settle the issue.
If we go by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s pronouncement that the province “holds the cards” in the dispute, the province wants to dictate terms of the settlement.
It remains to be seen whether the terms benefit the occupants.
Mayor Rama is likely to support any solution proposed by the Capitol, which won’t win him friends in the City Council, notably Councilor Alvin Dizon, the urban poor champion in the council, who tangled with Rama over the demolition of shanties in Mahiga Creek.
The 93-1 lot problem is right up the alley of Binay as chairman of the government’s housing program. However, it’s a significant change of course for Binay considering that it was Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo, who has been talking with Garcia and Rama over the 93-1 lot dispute.
Binay’s folksy approach (“Let’s have a happy compromise”) would complement Robredo’s measured negotiations.
It still boils down to the Capitol’s sincerity to agree to terms allowing over 3,000 remaining families buy the lots they occupy, a privilege that was cut off when Garcia took office in 2004 and a 10-year grace period ended.
Occupants hope they can still pay at 1993 land prices of less than P1,000 per square meter.
To be equitable, an assessment of the actual earning capacity of each beneficiary and full accounting of their payments should be made.
That would be fair for both settlers and the province.
The 93-1 lots are not freebies. Neither should they be priced beyond the reach of the occupants.
