Compromise agreement signed to end land dispute in Cebu City

Residents of a barangay in Lahug, Cebu City will finally be able to own their housing units after the city and the Provincial Government of Cebu signed on Sunday a compromise agreement between ending a 15-year-old land dispute.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña signed the compromise agreement, and witnessed by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who, during her presidency, signed Proclamation No. 409 declaring the land in Barangay Apas a socialized housing site.

Representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the National Housing Authority, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), and the residents represented by the Abaca Homeowners’ Association also signed the compromise deal.

Since 1918, the contested land had been owned by the Province of Cebu. But in 1959, it donated the property to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be used for its Central Command (CENTCOM).

However, the deed of donation came with the condition that if the land was not used for any military purpose, the grant would be revoked and the property will be returned to the Province of Cebu.

When informal settlers occupied a portion of the area, the Province of Cebu revoked part of the donation. But in 2003, Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 409 declaring the land occupied by illegal settlers as socialized housing site that may be given to legally qualified occupants.

Likewise, the Cebu City Council in 2005 enacted two ordinances declaring Barangay Apas a socialized housing site.

But in October 2007, despite the existence of Proclamation No. 409, the CENTCOM, through the then Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and then Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the DENR and HUDCC to turn over and transfer the properties to the provincial government.

In October 2009, Teodoro and Garcia signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) supplementing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide a framework for the turnover.

But even before the MOU and the MOA could be implemented, Osmeña and the Abaca Homeowners’ Association filed a motion before the Cebu City Regional Trial Court seeking to declare as null and void the said memorandums for supposedly being unconstitutional.

Arroyo herself welcomed the development, saying that she will talk to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the counsel of the CENTCOM, to act on the compromise agreement "within the bounds of the law."

“I have requested the OSG to act expeditiously on the case within the bounds of the law, bearing in mind the welfare of our urban poor and the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte  to give full support to our law enforcement officers and their families. Our retired military officers and personnel deserve our full support,” Arroyo said.

Osmeña, on the other hand, is optimistic that the land dispute will end with Arroyo's intervention and residents will finally have their own housing units.

“We are all happy that our dream of giving you your own house and lot has become a reality with the help of our new Speaker Gloria Mapapagal Arroyo," he said. "Mula noon hanggang ngayon sya pa rin ang handang tumulong sa atin." —Erwin Colcol/LBG, GMA News