PHOENIX Petroleum opened its branch in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City on Saturday, Nov. 17, without a hitch.
This, despite reportedly not having a certificate of occupancy from the Office of the Building Official (OBO).
According to Inocencio dela Cerna, the management’s legal counsel, Phoenix has been waiting for City Hall to issue the necessary permits for nearly two years.
“It has applied and paid for all the necessary City permits and requirements, but due to some reasons and considerations only City Hall knows, it has unduly withheld its issuance for over a year,” he said.
A certificate of occupancy is a document issued by a local government unit or building department certifying a building’s compliance with applicable building codes and other laws, and indicating it to be in a condition suitable for occupancy.
In his Nov. 17 SunStar Cebu column “Saksi,” news anchorman Bobby Nalzaro said Phoenix applied for a building permit for the construction of the gasoline station near Paradise Subdivision in Banilad last year.
However, an injunction case was filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) against Phoenix.
CA reversal
“Because of the legal issue, the matter was referred to the City Legal Office, which recommended last October 2017 that OBO may approve or disapprove Phoenix’s building permit application in the absence of a court restraining order. In April this year, a building permit was issued by OBO. But when Phoenix submitted an application for certificate of occupancy, OBO Chief Josefa Ylanan halted the issuance of the certificate based on an advice of the City Legal Office,” the column read.
Phoenix reportedly only learned of the non-issuance of the certificate of occupancy in August.
The injunction issued earlier by the RTC was reversed by the Court of Appeals.
“Phoenix lawyers followed up the application but to no avail. OBO did not also explain why it will not issue a certificate of occupancy,” wrote Nalzaro.
Dela Cerna said Phoenix will invoke Republic Act (RA) 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business Act in relation to RA 9485, also known as the Anti-Red Tape Act.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved RA 11032 on May 28. The law, which amends the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, seeks to make the process of putting up and running a business easier and more efficient in the country.
The provisions include a standard deadline for government transactions; a single application form for taxes, clearances and permits; a business one-stop-shop; an automated electronic system for local government units; zero-contact policy to eliminate corruption; and a central business portal to receive all business applications.
Penalties
An agency should finish simple transactions in three working days, while complex transactions should be completed in seven days. Highly technical transactions are given up to 20 days.
Failure of an agency to finish within the prescribed number of days will mean automatic approval of the request.
Violations include refusal to accept applications, imposition of additional requirements, failure to give requesting party notice of disapproval, failure to attend to applicants who are in the office premises during office hours, failure or refusal to issue official receipts and fixing or colluding with fixers.
There is also a two-strike policy against government officials and employees found in violation of the law.
For the first offense, there will be an administrative liability with six months suspension, except for fixing or collusion with fixers, where the Revised Penal Code is applied.
Aside from the administrative liability, the second offense includes criminal charges, which means dismissal from service, imprisonment of one to six years, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, a fine of not less than P500,000 and forfeiture of retirement benefits of not more than P2 million.
Dela Cerna said Phoenix has drafted for filing several complaints against persons involved in the matter.
This includes a criminal case in violation of RA 11032 and administrative cases before the Office of the Ombudsman, which they intend to file next week.
Police help
“We will resort to appropriate provisional remedies in the Courts of Law. As Phoenix follows the law, we hope City Hall respects the law to prevent any untoward incident,” dela Cerna said.
Anticipating tension, Phoenix had asked Cebu City Police Office Chief Royina Garma and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7 Chief Lito Patay to deploy policemen to the area during the opening ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 17.
“Opening went well. We requested police assistance as we firmly believe that we have basis to do so under the law,” dela Cerna said.
SunStar Cebu tried to reach Ylanan, but she was not available as of press time.
City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez, in a text message to SunStar Cebu, said: “The opinion of Atty. (Rico) Abellanosa, which I concurred, is that there is a pending case involving Alba and Phoenix, which involves a road within the property of Phoenix. That road is called J. Panis St. Since that’s one of the issues raised in said case, we deem it prudent to defer to whatever decision the court may come up with.”