CEBU CITY, Philippines - Residents of lots covered by Provincial Ordinance 93-1 who had fully paid their obligations to the Cebu provincial government before the 2004 deadline can expect to finally receive their deeds of sale.Governor Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday said 589 deeds of sale are ready for her signature and would be distributed on October 21.
“I want the beneficiaries to personally receive their deeds of sale so they will also personally hear the admonition of the province for them to adhere to the condition that their properties cannot be sold (until after five years from the issuance of their deeds of sale),” Garcia said. She said beneficiaries, who failed to pay in full before 2004, would be dealt with separately.
Provincial Board Member Juan Bolo said suggestions have been raised for the Capitol to tie up with financing institutions. “Because they were unable to pay in full before the deadline, their partial payments will be forfeited,” Bolo said. “Even if we were to re-appraise their lots, they still won't be able to pay because the price would be higher. It will just become a cycle of delinquency.” Bolo, who is part of a committee tasked to review Ordinance 93-1, said the provincial government is now considering the possibility of allowing a financial institution to help the beneficiaries pay for their properties. Bolo said it was impractical for the province to recover the properties of delinquent beneficiaries. Provincial Ordinance 93-1 was passed in the early 1990s to give the urban poor settlers who were occupying province-owned lots in Cebu City to buy the property at a price of P1,700 per square meter. The lots, with a total saleable area of 435,991 square meters, are located in barangays (villages) Apas, Luz, Busay, Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Kalunasan, Lahug, Lorega, Mabolo, Kasambagan and Tejero in Cebu City.
Out of the 4,358 urban poor families who occupy the properties covered under 93-1, only 1,440 have paid the provincial government in full before 2004 deadline. Ordinance 93-1 had originally set the deadline of payment in 1993, but this was extended in to 1998, then to 2001, and finally to 2004. The Capitol was still studying the cases of the 851 residents who have already paid the Capitol in full but who have not yet been issued deeds of sale.
“As we said, we would study very, very carefully the different cases of the different occupants of the 93-1 lots. We won't go across the board or one decision for all,” Governor Garcia said. The governor said the Capitol would not “respond kindly” to occupants who had threatened to sue the province due to its delays in issuing the deeds of sale. Capitol Consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda said there were some beneficiaries who may have paid in full, but violated provisions of Ordinance 93-1, such as a ban using the lots of beneficiaries for commercial purposes.
Bolo said this was a ground for the Capitol to revoke the beneficiaries' privilege to own properties no 93-1 land.
He said a number of lots in Barangay Luz have been used for commercial purposes, such as pawnshops, flower shops and bakeshops. Sepulveda said some of these properties were sold by their beneficiaries to the lots' current commercial occupants. The Capitol consultant said these lots may have a present market value of between P10,000 and P15,000 per square meter. | 
