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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
City Hall partly to blame, says tenants’ lawyer
By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Cebu City Hall may also be responsible for the controversy hounding the mall owners and tenants of Mango Square mall because it issued business and mayor’s permits to owners of “illegal” structures.
Lawyer Francisco Amit Jr. said City Hall should not have issued the permits that allowed the businessmen to operate if during the inspection they already found the mall management to have violated the Building Code.
Permits
Amit, legal counsel for the owners of 10 resto-bars and kiosks at Mango Square mall open plaza, said at least three of his clients have business and mayor’s permits to operate.
“They have the permits required and the City Government cannot question it because they are the ones who issued them in the first place. We understand the permits are valid unless revoked by the mayor,” he said in a phone interview.
At City Hall yesterday, Mayor Tomas Osmeña admitted the Office of the Building Official (OBO) may have also had lapses.
“Oh yes, but usually our OBO is not in the position to monitor every single structure in the city. We have about 20,000 establishments here. Besides, in the case of Mango Square, there were creeping violations, it was gradual,” he told a news conference.
Unsatisfied
Osmeña said he is not satisfied with the mall management’s move to cut off their tenants’ electricity and water connections.
The mall has seven more days to clear the sidewalks and the parking lots, or lose their occupancy permits.
“What I see is a violation of our ordinance and I’m not satisfied by having them shut their operations and their structures are still there. If they don’t remove them, I will push through with the cancellation of their occupancy permit,” the mayor said.
In a separate interview, Amit said they were set to file a P10 million damage suit with a petition for injunction yesterday but his clients were still raising the close to P500,000 needed as filing fee.
Aside from the civil case, they will also file a criminal complaint for grave coercion, following the management’s move to close the open plaza.
“We are filing the injunction to keep the management from forcing the stall owners to cease operations. We will also ask the management to return a reasonable amount of their investment, their advance rent and the bond the owners have put up,” Amit said.
His clients are seeking a damage claim ranging from P400,000 to P2 million each.
He also said that some of the stall owners already met with Mango Square owner Johnson Luym but they were not assured of any compensation or reimbursement.
If the management assures his clients that they will be reimbursed, Amit said they will not pursue the complaint.
For his part, Osmeña said he will not meddle in the conflict between the owners and the tenants, adding that his only concern is for the mall management to remove all illegal structures in the area.
Osmeña threatened to cancel the occupancy permit of Mango Square and shut the establishment if it refuses to remove the stair and stalls illegally constructed on the sidewalks and parking lot.
“Johnson Luym talked to me and he said he was informed everything was legal but when I checked with everyone, I said, ‘of course not’,”... It’s not enough that they cut off power and water, they have to clear everything out,” he said yesterday.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 5, 2006 issue)
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