Treñas orders check of land valuation in old airport site
Confused about the price quotations offered by two top officials of the Megaworld Corporation, Mayor Jerry Treñas directed the appraisal committee headed by July Grecia, assistant head of the City Assessors Office, to conduct land valuation on the property offered by the corporation as site of the proposed new city hall building.
Treñas's order came after majority in the Sangguniang Panglungsod junked the proposal of Megaworld Corporation because of the sudden increase in the selling price of lots.
The appraisal committee is composed of the different offices such as the Assessors, City Planning and Development Office and the City Treasurers Office.
In yesterday's interview with the members of the media, Treñas said he has directed Grecia to submit his report before the end of the month. The report will give Treñas a clear idea on the cost of the property being offered by the corporation to the city as site of the proposed new city hall building.
The council denied the proposal of the corporation after the selling price of the property increased from P3,000 per square meter to P3,500 per square meter. The P3,500 selling price was provided by Antonio Tan, senior vice president of Megaworld. The selling price rose to P16 million.
Earlier, Megaworld's Vice President Rodolfo Quintana offered the property for only P2,200 per square meter or P10 million for the lot needed for the city hall building project. It was learned that the price offered by Quintana was the same price which the corporation acquired from national government. The offer was sent through email.
The two sets of price quotations elicited confusion and suspicions from among the members of the council. In previous statements with the city officials, the P2,200 offer was not made public, only the P3,000 price offer was known. With the P3,000 selling price, the chief executive created an ad hoc committee chaired by Vice Mayor Jed Mabilog.
The ad hoc committee has recommended to buy the property offered by the corporation at the old airport site and sell the city government property at the Plaza Libertad, City Proper. The amount to be collected from selling the property would be used to buy the corporation's property. The 2004 assessed value of the property in Plaza Libertad amounted to P24 million.