Binay, Gwen trying to hasten 93-1 solutions

BENEFICIARIES of  Ordinance 93-1 have something to hope for in the coming days.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said there are developments in the efforts to settle the issue of  93-1 residents occupying province-owned lots in Cebu City.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said they have come up with a ‘multi-faceted’ solution although she gave few details.

Binay, who chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), earlier intervened in the 93-1 and said he hopes to resolve it faster.

Garcia told reporters that they have yet to properly identify the status of the beneficiaries because there are settlers who are “urban  poor” and “urban  rich”, referring to occupants who have bakeshops and other businesses.

A meeting will be held next week to finalize the pricing of the lots.

Binay was in Cebu for the 52nd Charter day celebration of Toledo City.

He also inaugurated the P170-million 100-room hotel of the city   with Mayor Aurelio Espinosa and  Garcia.

The four-storey hotel in barangay Poblacion was built in 2009 and is funded by the Toledo City Government. Officials also offered flowers at the monument of the late congressman Manuel Zosa.

It was through Zosa’s effort that Toledo became a city in 1961.

Cebu 3rd district Rep. Pablo John Garcia and Provincial Board (PB) members Alex Binghay and Ian Zambo attended the event.

Binay also turned over wheelchairs to two senior citizens and witnessed the turnover of the 73-classroom school building to the Department of Education (DepEd) in Toledo City.

After the event, Binay proceeded to Tsuneishi Heavy Industries in Balamban where he had lunch and stayed the whole afternoon to rest.

In the evening, he had dinner with third district officials. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus