PROPERTY developer D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc. on Thursday said that its subsidiary, Mandaue Land Consortium Inc., was set to proceed with the long-delayed Mandaue City reclamation project.
The project was originally approved in 2001 and 2003 by then-Mandaue mayor Thadeo Ouano Sr., with Mandaue Land as the city’s joint-venture partner. It stalled when Mayor Jonas Cortes, who served from 2007 to 2016, engaged another entity, Sultan 900 Consortium, which transferred its rights to Global City Mandaue Corp.
Mandaue Land filed for arbitration with the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC) in 2016 and won the case.
“Mandaue City was ordered to honor its contract with [Mandaue Land] and to fully comply with its obligations to [Mandaue Land],” the company said, adding that the CIAC order was final and executory.
Following issuance of the ruling, then-mayor Luigi Quisumbing issued a notice to proceed in 2019.
That same year, however, Cortes won again as mayor and again backed GMC for the project, but he was dismissed in 2024 by the Ombudsman for cause.
With Ouano’s son now mayor, D.M. Wenceslao said the project was now ready to commence as soon as the required permits were obtained.
The matter, however, has been complicated by a Supreme Court ruling upholding Global City’s rights to the project. A Global City representative earlier this week said the company was ready to work with the Mandaue City government to continue the project.
D.M. Wenceslao chief legal officer Paul Mar Quinto, meanwhile, told The Manila Times that “in so far as we are concerned, there is no hurdle since the city already issued a notice to proceed in favor of [Mandaue Land].”
Quinto added that the city council had also passed a resolution stating that the city would “abide by the CIAC award.”
D.M. Wenceslao shares slipped by 12 centavos, or 2.26 percent, to close at P5.18 each on Thursday.
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