Dahino body to hear claims of overprice

By LITO RULONA, Correspondent

THE city council’s finance committee would convene next week in order to look into claims made by Councilor Leon Gan that city hall plans to buy a property in Lumbia for Typhoon Sendong survivors at a price based on a land value allegedly bloated by some 140 percent.

Councilor Edna Dahino said Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin Uy has given the committee the green light to discuss the allegations made by Gan during the city council’s session on Monday.

Dahino, the city council’s finance committee chair, authored City Ordinance no. 13087-2016 that authorized Mayor Oscar Moreno to buy the 10-hectare property in Sitio Pahiron, Barangay Lumbia for some P27.5 million.

Dahino said the matter has been looked into already by the previous city council. But she said Gan’s allegations and proposal to repeal the city ordinance one week after it was approved prompted the committee to take a second look.

She said the ordinance would be reviewed, and it would give Gan the opportunity to prove that his proposal has valid grounds.

Dahino said she would submit her findings to the city council.

“We don’t want to be blamed in case there are discrepancies. Councilor Gan has more experience than other councilors. He is also a lawyer. We will give him a chance,” she said.

Councilor Enrico Salcedo said Dahino’s committee should carefully examine the plan to buy the Lumbia property, saying the last thing local legislators want is to expose themselves to a lawsuit as a result of the planned purchase.

Gan has alleged that the property’s value is only P110 to P155 per square meter but city hall plans to buy it for P265 per square meter.

Joining Gan in announcing their decision to withdraw their vote for the Dahino ordinance were councilors Nadya Elipe and Lordan Suan.

Gan said he was informed that the heirs of the late Rizal Gador, owners of the property, have not yet to make up their mind on the proposed sale of the 10 hectares.

City hall plans to turn the Lumbia property into a relocation site for over 700 families adversely affected by the 2011 Typhoon Sendong devastation in the city. Japan pledged to donate construction materials good for 722 housing units on the condition that the government would provide the relocation site.

Gan said funds for the land purchase would be sourced from the “continuing appropriation from calendar years 2010 to 2015.” He said this is not applicable because it is subject for the approval of the local executive and legislative departments.

He said he was open to the idea of buying the Lumbia property for the benefit of Sendong survivors but he cautioned that the unresolved issues may result in more problems later on.

“I just can’t put to risk my profession [because of this] questionable transaction and suffer [the] legal consequences in the future,” said Gan as he urged other councilors  to review the ordinance first before they approve the purchase.