He takes every opportunity to belittle his predecessor Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama but nothing gets the goat of Cebu City South Dist. Rep. Tomas Osmeña more than the mayor unveiling his plans for “his” beloved South Road Properties (SRP).
Rama recently announced plans to draft an ordinance that would create a special committee to manage the SRP to free it from “political disputes” like what’s happening between him and Osmeña.
In justifying his proposal, the mayor talked about the absence of a master plan similar to what other countries had with their economic zones. Osmeña countered that, like the flyover projects that he had been supporting, a master plan was already in place prior to the approval of the multibillion-peso loan contracted from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) that was used for the reclamation.
It would be interesting to listen to Rama’s claims that Cebu City’s earnings from the SRP were considerably low and the revenues earned from payments of big-name companies like SM were “incidental” since they were used to pay the JBIC loan.
But considering that it was only recently that these big companies have set up shop in the SRP helps explain why the revenue flow is still not significant enough for the city to earn profit. Then again, Rama wants to expedite the SRP’s earning potential through the special committee.
Here’s where it gets tricky. The mayor has yet to announce whether the Cebu Investments Promotion Center, the SRP marketing arm, is included in the management committee. For all intents and purposes, they should be if only to emphasize their role as the main sales people selling the SRP to the world.
What’s apparent from Osmeña’s latest harangue against Rama, aside from the SRP being his pet project, is the congressman’s fears that somehow, someway, the people to be appointed in the special committee may be comprised of those with special ties to his political rivals, the Garcias.
The Capitol had in fact entered a bid for the SRP’s prime lots before and had even complained about the city’s preference for Filinvest. With Rama getting chummy with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, the idea of her and her family getting their hands on the SRP is enough to piss off Osmeña no end.
The Capitol is already making inroads with its Ciudad project in the Banilad-Talamban Corridor and a hand in the creation of the SRP management committee may, in Osmeña’s view, be tantamount to the province intruding on the city’s main cash cow.
In this respect, it may be wise for Mayor Rama to ensure that the committee he may want to create to run the SRP’s affairs have the interests of Cebu City’s residents at heart. The SRP, after all, is bought, paid for and owned by Cebu City and any revenue generated from the project should benefit them, not anyone else.