Home 
The friction stepped up yesterday between Lapu?Lapu city officials and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
She said there would no longer be visits to Lapu-Lapu city?s historical landmarks in the Aug. 16 to 17 itinerary of the Suroy Suroy tourism caravan that would have brought visitors to Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.
?Pa special man sad na sila,? said Garcia in a loud voice, when Lapu-Lapu city officials didn?t attend a planning meeting yesterday and asked the governor for a special meeting at another time.
The sarcasm was not misplaced.
Her order to drop Lapu-Lapu City tourist destinations from the Suroy Suroy itinerary may seem trivial or temporary if not for an escalating quarrel over the city?s proposed P10-billion reclamation project, which the governor and her allies have been trying to block.
Yesterday, Lapu-Lapu City Administrator Teodulo Ybañez wrote a strongly worded letter complaining that the objections were ?insignificant? and that Garcia?s request for a ?special session? of the Regional Development Council (RDC) to tackle a resolution on the Mactan North Reclamation and Development Project was irregular.
In his letter to National Economic Development Authority (NEDA 7) Regional Director Marlene Rodriguez, Ybañez said a special RDC session would be ?without basis and authority.?
He said the issue may place the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in ?public ridicule? after she already announced her approval of the project in public during the Kadaugan Festival during a 2004 visit to Lapu-Lapu City.
A memorandum of agreement was signed between the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) under the Office of the President to implement the project. ?Rights have been established,? he added.
Last week, Ybañez was grilled about the reclamation project before the RDC full council meeting presided by Governor Garcia.
The project was in danger of being shelved through an RDC resolution asking President Arroyo to reconsider her approval of the Lapu-Lapu reclamation plan. However, there were not enough members present to vote on the matter.
With the lack of quorum, Garcia said she would ask for a ?special session? later.
Lapu-Lapu officials, who suspect the province is objecting to the reclamation project to protect their own plans for an international seaport in Liloan town, won?t agree to that.
Since the RDC resolution came in the ?other matters? of the agenda, Ybanez said this showed there was no urgency to call for a special session.
He said calling for a special session was not part of the RDC manual of operations and so would be an ?ultra vires? act or illegal from the start.
A copy of his letter was sent to the President, Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) general manager Andrea Domingo, and Garcia.
?What is the legal basis and authority of the NEDA or the RDC 7 chair to call for a special session?,? said Ybanez. ?If the same is availed due to an urgent matter, then what is the urgency of the proposed resolution regarding the Mactan North Reclamation and Development Project that needs a special sessions??
During the July 11 RDC meeting, objections to Lapu-Lapu City?s authority to undertake the P10-billion reclamation project were vigorously raised by Garcia?s father and brother, Rep. Pablo Garcia and Rep. Pablo John Garcia.
The reclamation project, first conceptualized in the 1990s during the term of governor Emilio Osmeña, was revived by Mayor Arturo Radaza who is on his last term in office.
Yesterday, Ybañez said implementation would not happen this year since the city is finalizing its Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) statement.
?Hence, all issues raised, though most are insignificant or a product of paranoia, will be addressed by the said EIA,? said Ybanez.
Lapu-Lapu city officials met behind closed doors yesterday before sending the letter.
Ybanez also questioned the authority of the RDC 7 or the NEDA 7 to revoke a memorandum of agreement legally entered into by the City government and the PRA.
He asked whether these bodies had the power to review the decisions of the President.
?Please take note that the PGMA, who is also NEDA chair, announced to the public during the Kadaugan sa Mactan event, her approval for the implementation of the Lapu-Lapu City North Reclamation Project on April 27, 2004 in honor of the heroism of Datu Lapu-Lapu,? said Ybanez.
He said funding for the reclamation project would locally sourced and not burden the national government.
?Hence, may we know then if the RDC and the NEDA have authority to approve or endorse the project? If so, please cite the legal basis thereof for us to be accurately guided on this matter,? Ybanez said.
The Neda regional director is the vice chair of the RDC 7.
