The Province of Cebu is the rightful owner of prime lots located along Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City, and not just the trustee of the national government, said Gov. Gwen Garcia during a media conference on Friday, July 21.
Flanked by Capitol lawyers, the governor was reacting to a DPWH inter-office memorandum which justifies the agency’s non-payment of just compensation to the Capitol for the agency’s encroachment on Capitol lots along Osmeña Blvd., beginning from the Capitol Compound all the way to Fuente Circle.
The memorandum, dated June 13, 2023 and penned by DPWH Undersecretary for Legal Service Atty. Anne Sharlyne Lapuz, was received by the governor on July 17.
It said that the Capitol’s claim for just compensation for encroachment on Capitol lots “has no legal and factual basis” since “the lands owned by local government units are presumed to come from the State” upon the creation of the LGU and are therefore “held in trust for the state” for the benefit of the constituents.
The memo admitted, as per validation conducted by the Cebu City District Engineering Office, that DPWH encroached on at least 30 Capitol-owned lots — of which only six were declared as road lots — when it extended the allotted road width from 20 meters to 24 meters, with an encroachment of 2 meters on both sides of the road.
However, Capitol consultant Atty. Rory Jon Sepulveda refuted Atty. Lapuz’s claim since being a trustee of the national government only applies to “hand-me-down” properties.
Giving a quick yet detailed lecture on the history of the lot’s acquisition, he said the provincial government actually bought the lots from the Cebu Heights Company Inc. in the early 1930s. The lot includes the Capitol Compound now, as well as the stretch of the Osmeña Blvd to Fuente Circle.
“Next time, if you’re dealing with the Province of Cebu — the Province of Cebu being the premier LGU — you better also do some due diligence before shooting from the hip because it will just explode in your face,” Atty. Sepulveda said.
The governor was appalled at Atty. Lapuz’s lack of historical background of the issue and yet proceeded to issue a position which was “dangerous and ridiculous”, one that “necessarily dragged the agency into this embarrassing situation”.
“All LGUs deserve more respect. And the respect will be shown in your doing your proper study,” the governor said.
Gov. Gwen then further reiterated that it was President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself, during the BRT groundbreaking rites in Cebu in February this year, expressly urged the DOTr to pay the Capitol just compensation for the project’s encroachment on Capitol properties.
Gov. Gwen hopes that DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan would see “the logic and legality of our position,” saying that the proceeds that Capitol would be getting from these encroachment charges would translate to additional infrastructure projects and programs that would uplift the lives of the Cebuanos.
She said her legal counsels would write a formal letter in response to the memorandum of Lapuz. | Carlo Lorenciana