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BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
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BACOLOD City – Capitol may resort to expropriation if its purchase agreement with lot owners here and Talisay City, Negros Occidental fails.
But Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Alain Gatuslao warned the contracts the provincial government signed with the lot owners must be rescinded first.
The provincial government was buying P485 million worth of properties for residential and mixed-use development purposes.
They include 400,000 square meters of C&C Agricultural and Development Corp. in Barangay Mansilingan here worth P260 million and 250,000 square meters of Encar Agro-Development Corp., et al., in Hacienda Minuluan-Panlilio, Barangay Matab-ang, Talisay City worth P225 million.
Capitol already paid the lot owners a total down payment of P60 million.
The Mansilingan lot, which was next to Paglaum Village, was being eyed as a relocation site for capitol employees who purchased properties at Panaad Park here and Mambukal Resort in Murcia town.
The Talisay property, on the other hand, was for housing and mixed-use development.
But the original property owners wanted to rescind their purchase contracts with the provincial government, Gatuslao said.
They claimed to have failed to comply with documentary requirements, including a clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform, said the chairman of the committee on laws, ordinances and good government.
While expropriation is an option, the provincial government cannot resort to it until the contracts to sell are rescinded, Gatuslao said. “Only then can we expropriate by filing a case in court.”
After the rescission, the Provincial Board may authorize the governor to negotiate with the landowners, he said.
The Board member clarified that the decision to proceed with expropriation is at the governor’s discretion./PN
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