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Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Is someone in the City Hall behind funeral home?: complainant
By Lory Ann B. Bilbao
IS SOMEONE in the City Hall behind the Gegato Abecia Funeral Home?
This is the concern of Florencio Yap, who complained that the GAFH continues to operate despite being padlocked by the City last year.
Yap showed to Sun.Star Tuesday photos of what he calls proof that the GAFH, located in Alta Tierra Village, Jaro, continues to operate.
The photos showed the GAFH's funeral car, then according to Yap, another person retrieving a dead body from a drainage canal in Quintin Salas, Jaro at around 4 p.m., Monday, December 5. Another picture showed that a covered body was loaded to a car with plate number FEX 596, which, according to Yap, is owned by GAFH.
Yap said, "This simply shows a vulgar illegal operation, a violation of the law and slap on the City Government's face."
It was also Yap, chairman of the Alta Tierra Homeowners Association Inc, who spearheaded the complaint against GAFH last year.
The issue was again brought to life when one of the City Government's former officials died and a viewing of his body was held at the GAFH. Mayor Jerry P. Trenas permitted it, sources said.
Earlier, City Legal Office Chief, Atty. Edgar Gil, said that the wake, if permitted by Trenas, was not something to protest on. He said the operation is a different story.
"But, there are other options for a venue. Why hold it in a funeral home which was ordered closed by the City Government itself," Yap said.
"Why GAFH? That, we don't know," he added.
Investigation
Earlier, Gil said if the GAFH is found guilty of operating, it will be fined and shut down. This, after his talk with Mayor Trenas who is now in Europe and the conduct of an investigation.
"The City Legal Office has the power to look into the complaint and shut it down automatically. Why is Gafh so confident in displaying such illegality? What makes them feel so?" Yap said.
"For example, if we are firemen, should we first have to wait for someone to tell us that there is a fire when we already saw it ourselves?" Yap said as regards the City Legal Office's answer to his complaint.
Background
A year after its operations, the GAFH was ordered closed by Trenas for lack of Environmental Compliance Clearance and a business permit.
A permanent sign was even posted at the GAFH's main door.
GAFH was only able to operate in that one year because of the mandamus issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 29 compelling the City Government to issue its owners a permit to operate.
The SC, however, reversed the lower court's order December 2003.
RTC Branch 34 also dismissed GAFH's petition for writ of preliminary injunction against the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Environment Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) and the City Government, which issued a cease and desist order and notice of revocation of permit, respectively, to the funeral parlor also last December.
GAFH attorney-in-fact Daniel Fajardo, after the order was served, revealed that there were nine city officials who received "lobby money" from the establishment's owners.
"How can we be so sure that it is not happening this time?" said Yap.
As of press time, Gil was not reached while Trenas is presently out of the country for a resource-financing program hosted by World Bank and will be back December 10.
(December 7, 2005 issue)
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