May 30, 2012
There’s more than meets the eye in the Capitol’s new joint venture
with Filinvest Land Inc., said Cebu City Rep. Tomas Osmeña.
Reacting to Gov. Gwen Garcia’s portrayal of the 1.2 hectare land
deal as more advantageous than Filinvest’s earlier deal with Cebu City for 50.6
hectares in the South Road Properties (SRP), the congressman said leasing the
province-owned lot in Salinas Drive for a BPO Complex was only Filinvest’s
“second choice” after SRP.
“Compare Cebu province with Cebu City? Gov. Gwen says the province
will have an increase in P5 billion in assets with the lease with FLI.”
“What she did not say is that FLI has the option to lease it for
up to 50 years. Do you think the building will be as commercially attractive
after 50 years? That would make it as old as Asilo,” he said in a text message
to Cebu Daily News.
“Filinvest is a good deal though because the city needs the BPO
space now. But 50 years from now, the province will have a hard time renting
out the old building.”
Osmeña said Filinvest’s interest in the province-owned lot in
Lahug where the Cebu city jail was once located was just a second choice after
the Cebu City government turned down Filinvest's request to acquire 10 more
hectares in SRP.
Osmeña and city officials had chosen instead to wait for land
values to go up in SRP with ongoing major commercial developments like SM City
and Filinvest.
"Note that Filinvest wanted to get 10 more hectares from the
SRP which we politely refused and the province lot was a consuelo - a second
choice," said Osmena.
The Province of Cebu and Filinvest broke ground last Saturday for
a P6.5 billion BPO Complex in Salinas Drive. The private developer will build
the structures under a Build-Transfer-Operate scheme and operate the BPO
complex for 25 years with renewal for 25 more years.
Last Monday, Governor Garcia said leasing the land instead of
selling it outright to Filinvest was a better deal and is favorable to the
provincial government.
The Capitol will receive P600,000 monthly rental and another P1.5
million a year from the joint venture's gross revenues.
But Osmeña said that looking years ahead, “Who will want to use
50-year-old elevators, air con and plumbing? By that time, the modern buildings
will rent out at much higher rates and the province has only a four percent
increase a year.”
Now that Filinvest is the Capitol’s new partner,
he said the governor’s brother Rep. Pablo John Garcia should “apologize” for
attacking the Filinvest-Cebu City joint venture in SRP as an anomalous
“sweetheart deal” in a 2009 privilege speech in the House of Representatives.
Rep. PJ Garcia earlier sought a congressional investigation into the deal. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief Of Reporters
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento