A joint hearing by five Sangguniang Panlungsod committees discussed the proposed disposal of Manokan Country, the iconic retail strip of inasal vendors in Bacolod City. The participating SP committee chairmen were Councilor Caesar Distrito (Committee on Government Assets), Councilor Ana Marie Palermo (Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government), Councilor Alex Paglumotan (Committee on Energy and Transportation), Councilor El Cid Familiaran (Committee on Urban Poor, Housing and Resettlement), and Councilor Carl Lopez (Committee on Markets and Slaughterhouse). “We cannot preempt the decision of the SP,” Distrito said as he explained how public hearings are needed before deciding to dispose of government assets. He added the SP should study the matter further before deciding to give Mayor Monico Puentevella the authority to proceed with the sale of the property. “The issue should not be rushed,” emphasized Distrito. Also present at the hearing were representatives from the City Mayor’s Office, namely: Executive Assistant Sarah Esguerra, Atty. Aireen Bonghanoy, and Acting City Administrator Jerome Solinap, as well as various stakeholders and Manokan Country stall owners. Mayor’s Proposal Puentevella earlier proposed to dispose of the property located at the corners of Rizal Street and Road Lot 4, Burgos Street in the Reclamation Area, where the Manokan Country is situated, after receiving an unsolicited proposal from SM Prime Holdings Inc. The conglomerate offered to purchase the 17,783 square meter lot at P20,500 per square meter, for the purpose of developing the property into an integrated shopping complex with transport terminal, hotel, and an improved Manokan Country. During the joint hearing, the committees discussed the arrears of the Manokan Country tenants, the stand of the Social Action Center, and the number of informal settlers who will be affected should the property disposal pushes through. “We have not reached the meat of the matter, thus we want to conduct succeeding hearings so we can really determine if the disposal is proper,” Distrito said. For his part, Fr. Ernie Larida, Director of the Social Action Center, earlier expressed strong opposition to the Mayor’s proposal. Larida said Manokan Country is not only a landmark but a cultural heritage and tourism spot known worldwide. Larida, in his position paper, also claimed Manokan Country is a product of love and labor of the Manokan stall owners since 1970s. “This was even conceptualized by small entrepreneurs of Bacolod, nurtured through hard work and sacrifice,” he said. “It is not right to hand over landmarks like this on a silver plate, so to speak, to the moneyed individuals and corporations to ‘fund other projects’ of the city,” Larida said. Rental fees unpaid Larida explained the non-collection of rental fees is not a valid reason to sell the property. He identified the inefficiency of the concerned government agency to collect arrears as the city government’s fault and not the vendors. Based on the data gathered by the Appraisal Committee, only three stalls out of the 26 occupying the area have a Mayor’s Permit to operate as of March 2015. Unpaid rentals amount to a total of P6,574,721.64. Meanwhile, Manokan Country tenants appealed to the SP to consider their situation before making a final decision to dispose the property to a private entity. For his part, Familiaran, an opposition candidate for vice mayor, said he will conduct a separate public hearing on the matter to determine the number of the affected stall owners. He said the hearing will also determine if the city can relocate their business to a good place should the disposal of the Manokan Country pushes through./WDJ By Glazyl Jane Marie Y. Masculino
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
|