Settlers want to buy 93-1 property

A HOMEOWNERS association in barangay Lahug, Cebu City, signified their intention to pay for the property they occupied to the Capitol yesterday.

The Skyview Homeowners Association aired their request in yesterday’s meeting with Capitol and Cebu City Hall officials.

The two lots they occupy totalling 51,000 square kilometers are owned by the province under its 93-1 ordinance.

Capitol spokesman Rory Jon Sepulveda  asked the association to submit a written proposal indicating the lump sum amount of their purchase of the property.

Belle Flores, chairman of the board of the association, said she was glad the Capitol agreed to hear them out.

Flores said they met with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia last week and will convene a meeting to agree on the amount they will pay to the Capitol.

Cebu City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez, who attended yesterday’s meeting, said he will wait for the next meeting before explaining Cebu City Hall’s stand on the proposal.

Sepulveda said Bernaldez’s presence is needed to verify the association’s legitimacy as legal occupants of one of the Capitol’s 93-1 lot properties.

Sepulveda said he urged the association to make a lump sum payment instead of payment on installment basis.

If negotiations prosper, Flores said they will ask the Capitol to develop road networks in their area.