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CEBU CITY, Philippines - Leonora Riveral, 92, wore a wide grin on her face when her name was called to receive the deed of absolute sale for the 158-square-meter lot in Barangay (village) Luz, Cebu City, where she and her children had lived in for decades.
Riveral was the first to receive the deed of absolute sale from the Cebu provincial government during a ceremonial distribution held on Monday morning at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) led by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Maria Concepcion, Riveral’s daughter, said her mother was one of the beneficiaries of Provincial Ordinance 93-1 who paid in full for the lot they lived on before the lapse of the Capitol’s first deadline extension on June 10, 1999.
“We did not believe in the socialized housing program of the governor. But when we saw that some were able to get titles after the (1995) deadline, we saw it was true,” Concepcion said in Cebuano.
Concepcion accompanied the wheelchair-bound Riveral as she accepted from Garcia the deed of absolute sale, which is a requirement before the title for the lot could be transferred.
Riveral was one of six people – representing the six barangays in which 93-1 lots are located – who received her deed during Monday’s ceremonial distribution. Other beneficiaries were told to claim their deeds straight from the Capitol.
While barely able to talk, Riveral was visibly happy while holding the deed.
While the ceremony went well, it did not go without hitches.
Garcia called her department heads to a meeting immediately after her arrival at the CICC due to “discrepancies” in the listing of qualified beneficiaries and in the number of deeds of sale that required her signature.
Rory Jon Sepulveda, Capitol consultant on information, revenue generation and compliance, said in an earlier interview that 589 deeds of sale were ready for the governor’s signature.
But Garcia said another source told her that least 800 deeds were waiting for her signature.
She told the crowd of at least 1,000 people who gathered at the summit hall of the CICC that there was a need to further review the list of beneficiaries who have paid for their properties in full.
“But I assure those who have fully paid and are qualified have no reason to be afraid,” Garcia said.
Capitol officials assured that heirs of lot beneficiaries would be properly screened while beneficiaries who were only able to pay partially or who never made payments at all would be dealt with separately.
Garcia said the Capitol would coordinate closely with the chiefs of Cebu City barangays in which 93-1 lots are located.
“We will find solutions for those who have not fully paid or haven’t paid. We will continue to do this by working quietly,” Garcia said.
Barangay captains Erwin Guanzon (Capitol Site), Ramil Ayuman (Apas), Eleodoro Sanchez (Busay), Nida Cabrera (Luz), Lorenzo Basamot (Kamputhaw) and Mary Ann de los Santos (Lahug) attended Monday’s gathering.
The barangay captains praised the governor for her efforts.
