Thursday, September 04, 2008 Illegal billboards demolition starts By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE City Government of Davao has started its demolition on several illegal billboards that were subject of complaint from the City Building Office (CBO) chief Engineer Joaquin Cui before the City Legal Office.
Engineer Gloria Lumapas, CBO enforcement division chief, said she will be making the demolition order against three billboards anytime soon upon the order of City Legal Office chief Melchor Quitain.
She said they have one demolition ongoing on a billboard owned by the APM Ad and Promo Management (APM) located along ABS-CBN Matina Highway.
Based on the CBO records, there are 34 billboards that are subject for demolition, 18 of which are owned by APM. Of the 34, three were already demolished, while one was corrected and another one is being demolished.
The demolition order was the result of the August 29 letter of Engineer Cui addressed to Quitain wherein Cui complained of the continued operation of the APM sans business permits and the more than P2-million debt to the City Government.
Cui is asking the help of the legal office to file legal action against said agency and remove their illegal structures. Lumapas, however, clarified that their demolition is not focused on APM billboards alone but all other billboards that have violated the law.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, APM owner Alex P. Montañez denied the accusations leveled against his company. Montañez revealed that they have already reached a settlement with the City Government upon the intercession of Quitain.
It was learned that APM met with CBO representative Gloria Lumapas and came up with a settlement, which Montañez described as satisfactory.
"We have all along maintained that APM is willing to pay any legally mandated fees imposed by government and its regulators," Montañez said after the meeting. "Our track record speaks for itself."
Montañez was particularly thankful to Quitain for stepping into the row.
"We are indeed thankful to the City Legal Office headed by Attorney Melchor Quitain for taking the extra step to settle the misunderstanding. APM and CEO have resolved to work together and iron out the differences," the APM owner said.
He said the issue between APM and the City Government is just a "simple case of misunderstanding over computations, nothing else."
"What is important is that the City Legal Office through Attorney Quitain has found a solution," Montañez said.
In its press statement, APM appealed to concerned parties "not to make a circus out of this simple row because at stake is a reputation that was built through years of hard work, the life of a business entity who has many dependents and the general well-being of a community that Dabawenyos always want to be at peace and in harmony."
He did not clarify what circus he was referring to since there was but a report about the impending demolition and the P2-million debt.
Cui earlier said that their building office issued an order of payment for APM for all the billboard structures for the current and past years, "however, up to this writing, no payment has been made nor applied for renewal of their structures, instead, they questioned the schedule of fees and requested the refund of payments they have made."
Several notices and reminders were said to have been sent to the ad agency to follow the law but they continue to defy the request and keep on with their operation.
Cui said APM has submitted request for the renewal of their four billboard structures but were not processed because of non-payment of government fees and submission of other supporting documents such as lot title of the property where the structures are erected.
The Business Bureau also blocked the renewal of APM's business permit for violation of PD 1096 or the National Building Code and the signage ordinance. To date, APM has allegedly incurred total arrears of P2,045,693.22.
