SRP: Wait longer or sell now?

Last week the Cebu City Council passed an ordinance that practically prohibits the mayor from selling any portion of the South Road  Properties (SRP). But for Mayor Mike Rama, the ordinance is not needed because it’s  just a copy of the provisions of the Local Government Code that practically requires the mayor to get the nod of the City Council to dispose of real estate.

I  think the BO-PK dominated council just wanted to send a political message to the mayor that he could not touch the SRP. The council acted on the bidding of its political patron Rep. Tommy Osmeña who thinks that it is best to sell  SRP space only after  SM and Filinvest finish their real estate projects in order to peg the property at a higher price, thus benefitting the city of Cebu.

But  Mayor Rama believes the people of Cebu  City own the SRP so it is not  for  one person to decide when to sell the property.

Rama thinks  the city has spent so much already for the 300-hectare SRP, for which the city government, is still paying a foreign loan,  sacrificing basic public services. And  so it is time for the people to enjoy the benefits from the sale  of  SRP lots.

There is the risk of  having high prices  and no more buyers interested to purchase the land.  Besides, the SRP was intended for job-generating establishments to be put up  so that  many people would be hired to work, not for real estate speculaton or development.

As a matter of fact, a  Japanese financial institution was looking for that concept when  representatives met with the city government. Rama wants to sell a portion of the SRP to finance some  projects intended for the people of Cebu City  through  projects lined up for the barangays. I can’t understand why the City Council would not allow the mayor to  sell  even a portion of the SRP.  After all, he is not selling the entire SRP.

It is very clear now that the City Council has become an obstructionist  like the setup in the old Mandaue City Council that practically blocked all the projects of Mayor Jonas Cortes. The council appears to   have grown selfish that many times it only thinks about it political patron and no longer the interests of the people that it swore to serve.

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Last Thursday, graft charges were  filed against Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia in relation to the 2008 purchase of the Balili Estate.  The good governor thinks the charges  are part of    political harassment  especially since she has already declared her aspiration to run for the Senate under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay. With this development, I don’t  know if the UNA party would still include Governor Gwen in its Senate slate. Definitely it will  affect her chances of  bagging a slot in the UNA ticket.

The charges are  very damaging to the One Cebu Party and to the governor personally, but I believe she will  survive this latest challenge. Anyway the governor has a fallback if she doesn’t pursue a Senate campaign.

She can can always run for  the House of Representative in Cebu’s  3rd district  or even as vice governor of her brother PJ Garcia.

This unfortunate turn of events is the last thing the lady governor  needs right now. The  controversy will mar her political aspirations.

But last Friday in her State of the Province Address political bigwigs from Manila headed by Vice President Binay, former President Erap Estrada, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and others attended the SOPA.

That  showed that the UNA leadership has not wavered in its decision to tap the governor for its senatorial slate for 2013.

In her SOPA,  the governor was in a fighting mood and did not use a prepared speech that would have highlighted her performance as governor.

She instead used the  SOPA to defend herself and lashed out at her critics whom she believes is out to divide Cebu. But the Balili case and the filing of graft charges was just a matter of time.

The land deal controversy hounded the governor for months and Balili  became the butt of jokes about buying properties under the water. Well, this issue is another challenge for the governor. According to her, she will endure the early storm and come out a winner.