The city council has authorized Mayor Benjamin Magalong to proceed with the purchase of the property where Baguio’s sewage treatment plant is located.
In a resolution, the council authorized Magalong to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) for the acquisition of the 4,928 square-meter lot at Sanitary Camp, which hosts the city’s STP operations.
The council also authorized the mayor to sign the deed of sale and conveyance of the Psalm property worth more than P36 million.
Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda moved for the approval of the resolution after concerned department heads concurred the city’s purchase of the property is beneficial to the city government, aside from the fact that it is already using the area for the operations of Baguio’s STP.
The Psalm property, which consists of 6,322 sq. m., is the subject of a pending case.
Assistant City Legal Officer Melchor Carlos Rabanes said the National Power Corporation filed in 2008 a case for recovery of possession with damages against the city government, but this was archived to give way to negotiations. Psalm, by virtue of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, is now the owner of the Sanitary Camp lot.
Rabanes said the city’s purchase of the property will resolve the case, which was filed because of the city government’s failure to implement a land swap deal entered during the time of then mayor Luis Lardizabal.
The city government was supposed to locate a property for NPC, but it failed to find a site with the same land area as that of the Sanitary Camp lot.
The council resolution allowed the purchase of 4,928 sq.m. of the 6,322 sq.m. lot, since 1,404 sq.m. is traversed by the transmission lines of the National Grid Corporation.
City Environment and Parks Management Officer Rhenan Diwas said the purchase of the property is beneficial to the city government, especially with the plans to rehabilitate the STP.
City Assessor Maria Almaya Addawe said the P36M being asked by Psalm from the city government is reasonable.
The council also approved separate resolutions specifying that signing of the MOA for the acquisition of the Sanitary Camp lot will serve as basis for a compromise agreement involving the case Psalm filed against the city government and for Psalm to allow the city government an unimpeded right-of-way access to the area traversed by the NGCP lines. – Jane B. Cadalig
