Friday, October 20, 2006 No building permit for P120M MCIAA office By Elias O. Baquero Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE construction of the P120-million administration building of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIAA) is illegal and cannot be continued because it lacks a building permit.
Lapu-Lapu City Attorney Joseph Vincent Lim said the Office of the Building Official cannot issue a permit to the MCIAA because of a conflict on land ownership.
The land is claimed by a private person represented by lawyer Silvino Maceren Jr., who has presented a title issued by the Land Management Bureau.
The construction of the administration building was started by Young Builders Construction last March with the “notice to proceed” issued by then MCIAA general manager Adelberto F. Yap.
It would have been finished next month.
Yap earlier said that the building project is part of the preparation for the Asean Summit because, once completed, portions of the domestic and international terminal buildings occupied by airport personnel will be used as VIP lounge for the heads of state upon their arrival.
Yap had also said that the project will bring income, as spaces at the terminal buildings can be rented out to international airlines.
He had projected a monthly income from rentals at P2 million or P24 million a year.
But he was removed as general manager by the MCIAA Board last July. The board thought him disrespectful when he continued to claim his position even after the board suspended him. He was replaced by retired brigadier general Danilo Augusto B. Francia.
But Lim said that even if work on the building is already more than 60 percent, the City Government has ordered its demolition.
The demolition order was issued from the first month of the construction work but the contractor, on orders of MCIAA, ignored it so the accomplishment has reached 60 percent, Lim said.
He added that MCIAA has two options—either to rent the land or buy the land from the private landowner, so it can secure a “consent to build” that will be one of the requirements in the issuance of the building permit.
Lim said that another requirement is for MCIAA to secure a tax clearance for the land.
The land where the building is being constructed is the area once occupied by Saboten, a Korean firm that was ordered closed after reports of discrimination against Filipinos.
