BAGUIO City Mayor Maurico Domogan scoffed at criticism that his lack of political will is stalling fate of bar owners at the Maharlika rooftop.
Domogan clarified he is waiting for the decision of the city council on the request of the bar owners for an extension of operations and not the other way around.
The chief executive said he has already thumbed down the request and has asked for concurrence from the legislative body as he threw the question back at aldermen on why an answer has been pending.
The City Council deferred the decision on the Maharlika bars twice and has calendared its discussion on March 4th.
Domogan said proposals have been submitted to his office to use the space as a creative hub for the city in compliance with Unesco declaration and urged the city council to make up their minds.
Unesco declared Baguio as the first Creative City in the Philippines which is now among the 64 cities from 44 countries in the Unesco Creative Cities Network.
Councilor Faustino Olowan, head of the committee on laws, human rights and justice, backed the request for extension of bar and videoke stall owners for humanitarian reasons, citing they have been occupying the spaces for a long time now and have complied with peace and order concerns by hiring security to man the area.
As of Friday afternoon, Olowan is standing by his decision to allow an extension for the almost 100 establishments to be affected in the area located at the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th floors of the Maharlika building.
Maharlika has been identified as one of the areas in the city for the display and sale of creative crafts with Councilor Mylen Yaranon eyeing the restoration of the area.