IT SEEMS there are more problems for officials of the Chuzon Supermarket in Pampanga, as its Apalit branch was found to have been operating without a business permit since 2018, in defiance of letters sent by municipal authorities to cease and desist operations.
This was bared in a report of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and management Council of Apalit sent to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).
This came as Apalit officials initiated a visual inspection of the said building following the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Pampanga on Monday, April 22.
The municipal authorities immediately had the building padlocked for public safety after its findings.
In their summary of findings, it was found out that the Chuzon Supermarket in Apalit used to be Dr. Lim’s Hospital building. The store also has an unfinished base micro-filling. Authorities also observed new cracks on the front portion of the said establishment.
In a similar report, the Municipal Engineer of Guagua reported no major damages to the foundations and concrete slabs of the Chuzon branch in Guagua.
Meanwhile, no report has been submitted yet from the Municipal Government of Floridablanca on the status of Chuzon Supermarket in the said town.
Photos of Chuzon Supermarket in the said town have been going around on Facebook showing supposed damages inside the building’s structure.
Reports reaching SunStar Pampanga said that Chuzon Floridablanca had been closed since April 23 right after the quake.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the issuance of a cease and desist order against the supermarket whose four-storey branch in Porac, Pampanga collapsed, killing at least five people.
Just before Duterte ordered the suspension of operations of all Chuzon branches in Pampanga, the Municipal Government of Guagua had already suspended Chuzon Guagua operations over public safety concerns.
Chuzon Supermarket is owned by businessman Samuel Chu, with four other branches in Pampanga: Sto. Tomas, Apalit, Guagua, and Floridablanca, as well as in Gerona, Tarlac and Mariveles, Bataan. Chu had presented himself to authorities after being “invited”.