Wednesday, October 04, 2006 Assessment of pay parking firm dues pushed By Rimaliza Opiña
THE internal audit team formed by former mayor Bernardo Vergara should reconvene and continue auditing what should be due the City Government from the six years operation of Jadewell pay parking company.
This as Councilor Edilberto Tenefrancia recalled that in an audit done four years ago, "Jadewell already owed the City Government millions (of pesos)," stressing that this could be used as basis for the filing of a case to collect the amount.
Assistant City Accountant Almaya Addawe headed the internal audit team.
Tenefrancia said the recent proposal is aside from the planned rescission of the memorandum of agreement (MOA), the repeal of Ordinance 3-2000 or the Pay Parking Ordinance and the ongoing follow-up at the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) regional office and the City District Engineering Office (CDEO) regarding actions they have taken on two resolutions passed by the City Council.
The DOTC was asked to implement a cease and desist order against parking attendants of Jadewell because they were not deputized to impose traffic rules and regulations, while the CDEO was told to remove the traffic signs installed by Jadewell along national roads.
A notice of rescission was already transmitted by the City Legal Office (CLO) to Jadewell but an earlier report revealed that the parking firm does not have any intention of stopping its operations, saying they would await the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) regarding an earlier case they filed against the City Government.
Both the Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Court of Appeals (CA) decided in favor of Jadewell.
Tenefrancia declined to comment on Jadewell's response but said that CLO officer-in-charge Melchor Carlos Rabanes would be asked to respond accordingly, but he reiterated that rescission is still a prerogative of the City Council. "The violations are apparent," he insisted.
After the lapse of the 60-day period, the City Council would decide on two options regarding the rescission - one is rescission by the City Council or rescission by the court.
Tenefrancia, along with former vice mayor Betty Lourdes Tabanda and then councilor now suspended Mayor Braulio Yaranon represented the City Council in the petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus, filed by Jadewell, in 2002. He also drafted the City Council's letter-response to Jadewell lawyer Emiliano Gayo, who earlier warned that his client would file a complaint on violation of the rule on forum shopping as well as contempt charge.
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