sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pio/speeches/08-17-12-speech.pdf
"x x x.
A little over two years ago, on April 26, 2010, the City of Cebu, thru its then Mayor Tomas Osmena, donated to the Supreme Court this parcel of land where we stand today – consisting of 7,123 square
meters – to be used as the site of the Court of Appeals Building in Cebu City. On May 13, 2011 title to this parcel of land was issued in the name of the Supreme Court.
Construction, however, of the CA Cebu City building could not start because the funds available amounted to only P40 million, earmarked way back in 2004 by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide.
The estimated cost to construct the building alone, excluding the furniture and equipment, is P300 million.
Last month, I asked the Chief Accountant of the Court for the balances of the savings of the Court. To my pleasant surprise, I was informed that the Court had at least P2.5 billon in existing savings. It
was a Eureka moment for me – for suddenly out of nowhere there was money to construct not only the Manila HOJ, but also the Court of Appeals buildings in Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro City. I immediately asked the Court En Banc to earmark a total of P2.383 billion for the construction of the three buildings, which the En Bancgladly did in a Resolution dated July 17, 2012.
For the CA Cebu City building, the En Banc earmarked P266,950,000, in addition to the P40 million earmarked during the time of Chief Justice Davide. Thus, for the construction of the CA Cebu
City building, we have in our Land Bank account firmly earmarked in cash the total amount of P306,950,000. For the furniture and equipment, we plan to ask Congress for funding over the next two years under the Annual General Appropriations Act.
x x x."
