CPA gives BOC 60 days to leave office

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Cebu has at least two months to search for a new office building after a final notice to vacate their building was issued last Friday.

The BOC was given 60 days to vacate the building upon receipt of the letter from the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) Commission, radio station DYLA reported.

CPA manager Dennis Villamor, in a letter dated Aug. 10 and addressed to District Collector in Cebu Ronnie Silvestre, said the building will be used as part of its expansion program.

The BOC also failed to pay its monthly rent of P50,000, according to the broadcast report.

The bureau has been occupying the building since 2005 after its location, the old Bureau of Customs at the pier area, was converted to the Malacañang sa Sugbo, or Malacañang of the South.

The Malacañang of the South was the official residence of then president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria MacapagalArroyo during her Cebu visits.

Silvestre has informed Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon through a memorandum of the notice to vacate.

Silvestre, in his letter to Biazon, said the Malacañang sa Sugbo building has to be reclaimed since there is no other alternative site for the agency to move into.

The BOC earlier sent a request to the Office of the President to use the old Customs building but this was denied.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama asked President Benigno Aquino III to donate the building to the City Government, which intends to convert it into a museum. The CPA had given the BOC until July to move out. The monthly rental of P50,000 was part of an agreement between CPA and then Cebu District Collector Ma. Lourdes Villamar Mangaoang.

However, Arroyo ordered the CPA to refrain from collecting rent from BOC Cebu. (BAP)