RATHER than donate office space at the South Road Properties (SRP), it’s better for Cebu City to return the Malaca\u00f1ang sa Sugbu building to the\u00a0 Bureau of Customs, said Rep. Tomas Osme\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
He objected anew\u00a0 to\u00a0 Mayor Michael Rama’s offer\u00a0 to donate an SRP lot to the Bureau of Customs which wants to move back into the Malaca\u00f1anga sa Sugbo.<\/p>\n
Osme\u00f1a, who has frequently criticized the mayor\u2019s handling of the 300-hectare SRP,\u00a0 said what the BOC needed was an office space for\u00a0 immediate use and not a vacant lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to move out of their existing building because it’s already a danger zone.\u00a0 You can’t move them into an open lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mayor Rama earlier said he didn\u2019t want to\u00a0 return Malaca\u00f1ang sa Sugbo to the BOC because the building that was used by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was an\u00a0 important landmark in the city.<\/p>\n
Rama said the city needed\u00a0 this as s part of a heritage zone that includes\u00a0 Fort San Pedro, Plaza Independencia, the Gotiaoco Building, and Compa\u00f1a Maritima.<\/p>\n
He said he is following up his request to the Palace to turn over the building to the city government.\u00a0 Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon earlier wrote President Benigno Aquino III seeking for the return of the post-war building\u00a0 to\u00a0 the BOC.<\/p>\n
Biazon said their present office in the Cebu port area was extensively damaged when a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit last February, making it unsafe for occupancy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Rama) is not listening.\u00a0 There is danger there (at the existing BOC office) that is placing people’s lives at risk,\u201d said Osme\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
He said the city should give back Malaca\u00f1ang sa Sugbu to BOC because of the immediacy of their concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat building has been there for 100 years and you can always get it\u00a0 back later on if the BOC manages to locate new office space,\u201d he said. Correspondent Edison delos Angeles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RATHER than donate office space at the South Road Properties (SRP), it’s better for Cebu City to return the Malaca\u00f1ang sa Sugbu building to the\u00a0 Bureau of Customs, said Rep. Tomas Osme\u00f1a. He objected anew\u00a0 to\u00a0 Mayor Michael Rama’s offer\u00a0 to donate an SRP lot to the Bureau of Customs which wants to move back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1242,1227],"tags":[2573],"byline":[],"source":[206068],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n