Four structure owners that encroached on Capitol lots along Osmeña Boulevard will now be sent demand letters by the Provincial Government, asking them to pay their encroachment charges with interest.
This came about after these structure owners met with Gov. Gwen Garcia on May 10 at the Capitol bringing a letter of protest against the Capitol’s demand for rent and asking the Capitol to nullify the charges.
In a reversal of role, the letter accused the Capitol of “summary taking of building owners’ property without due process of law”; and “summary taking, intrusion, interfering with, disturbing, and limiting the building owners’ right over their property.”
The Capitol maintained that it owns the titles of lots that now have been used as roads and sidewalks along Osmeña Boulevard, from the Capitol Compound all the way to Fuente Circle. The structure owners, the Capitol argued, encroached on these properties illegally.
The governor was offended by the letter and immediately called off the deal she was proposing to the structure owners during their previous meeting where she asked them for a counter-proposal after hearing the Capitol’s position on the matter.
The Capitol initially offered the structure owners more lenient paying terms that included deflated rates of rent from 2023 to 2014.
“I’ll see you in court,” the governor told the structure owners, adding that Capitol will deal with encroachment on its properties through legal means.
The Capitol asserts that it was the one being deprived of its property and will not tolerate false accusations.
The letter, which was deemed to be in bad faith, has prompted the government to demand payment with interest from those who signed it.
The Capitol was slated to collect an estimated P31 million in rental fees from the four structure owners that signed the document. | Ulrika Wagas