The Cebu Provincial Government is coming closer and closer to recovering the entirety of the 80 hectares of land it formerly donated to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Brgy. Apas, Cebu City.
On her birthday, October 12, Gov. Gwen Garcia signed a land-swap agreement with AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. for the remaining 12 parcels of lots of the Camp Lapu-Lapu, the headquarters of the AFP Visayas Command (VisCom).
The stipulations of the MOA, signed at the Capitol Social Hall, were approved by Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. who was the honored guest of the ceremony.
“This agreement is a synergistic agreement where everybody wins, because not only will Cebu regain what is rightfully hers, but the Armed Forces will also not lose because of the replication commitment of the Province of Cebu,” Sec. Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. said in his speech.
Under the MOA, the Capitol will also facilitate the relocation of the displaced units of VisCom into their new camp. Moreover, the Capitol will fund the construction of exact replicas of military structures of VisCom in their new camp to ensure the unhampered operations of the Armed Forces.
𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐋𝐄
For Sec. Teodoro and Gov. Gwen, the agreement signing would be coming full circle, fulfilling finally the understanding they initiated exactly 16 years ago.
In 2007 when both officials were also serving in the same capacities, they reached an understanding for the return of 47 parcels of VisCom-occupied lots with an area of 806,943 square meters formerly donated by the Capitol in 1959.
The Capitol, however, revoked the donation in 1994 after discovering that the military was not able to fulfil an important provision of the deed of donation.
However, the understanding remained unenforced with the ever-shifting political climate that dominated the local and national scene that time.
Things changed for the better when Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was elected to the country’s highest office in May 2022. He immediately gave an order for the DND to see to it that the Cebu Provincial Government recover the lots that legally belong to the Cebuanos.
On October 3 last year, DND officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. returned 16 parcels of lots to the Capitol with a total area of 17.5 hectares.
This was followed immediately in February 27 this year when President Marcos himself signed as witness to the agreement entered into by Gov. Gwen and DND OIC Carlito Galvez Jr. for the return of additional 19 lots occupied by VisCom to the Capitol.
With the land-swap agreement inked, the Capitol can finally see the day when the remaining 12 parcels of lots are finally recovered, as it is an open secret that Gov. Gwen plans to maximize the economic potentials of the area which is just a stone’s throw away from the Cebu IT Park.
A “global city within the city”, she said, would be built there in partnership with the private sector, ensuring a steady source of locally sourced revenue for the province for generations down the line.
“Coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous and yet God’s way to remind us that there are always little miracles along the way to guide us from one event to the next,” Gov. Gwen said in her speech.
“These synchronicities and coincidences, we will finally look back to and realize all things are truly meant to be,” she added. | Ioannes P. Arong