THE Talisay City Government has lifted the closure order it issued against a noodle factory in Barangay Cansojong on Friday noon, Aug. 9, 2019.
The City lifted the closure order after Citifood Industries and President Food Product Industries were able to secure a clearance and coal user permit from the Department of Energy (DOE).
Lawyer Russ Mark Gamallo, DOE Central Visayas legal counsel, clarified, though, that they only cleared the two firms of administrative cases lodged against its owners earlier this year after they were able to pay the corresponding fines for violations in three of their plants.
The firms, he said, are not cleared yet of the alleged theft of P33.2 million worth of coal and of the other criminal charges the DOE 7 is set to file against its owners following an incident last month.
The factories of Citifood Industries and President Food Product Industries were raided by the DOE on July 30 after they were found to have bought the coal that the DOE 7 had seized at Pier 8 in Mandaue City.
“Ang Citifood nibayad na sa administrative fines. Nibayad sila sa violations sa 3 nila ka plants, 2 in Talisay and one in Minglanilla. Unya ang criminal case, walay labot ana. (Citifood has paid the administrative fines for the violations of their three plants—two in Talisay City and one in Minglanilla town. The criminal cases against them are another matter). We are still collating the documents for the filing of the criminal cases for theft, obstruction of justice and anti-fencing,” Gamallo told Superbalita Cebu.
In a separate interview, Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas said that even if the DOE has cleared the factory, their management still needs to comply with the conditions the City Government set after receiving complaints from residents living near the factories.
To convince the City to lift the closure order against their factories, Citifood Industries and President Food Product Industries president Aldrich Lucio Ngosiok submitted an affidavit of undertaking to Gullas last Thursday, Aug. 7.
In the document, the company officials expressed their commitment to clean the surroundings of their factories and to be more sensitive to the sentiments of the residents living near their plant.
Ngosiok agreed to comply with the City’s conditions such as to build a concrete road or asphalt pavement leading to the factory, adopt strategies to decrease or control the air pollution caused by their operations, fix or construct proper drainage facilities, regularly maintain the cleanliness and safety of their surroundings, and strictly comply with sanitary standards set by the City.
Ngosiok signed the affidavit of undertaking together with the City’s lawyers.
Gullas, in a statement, said even with the lifting of the closure order, they will closely monitor the plants’ compliance with the management’s commitment.
He said that if the plant’s management fails to fulfill what they committed to do, he will not renew the firms’ business permits.
“Though I appreciate that the factory has contributed to the income of the city in terms of the taxes and has given employment to some of our constituents, I cannot just stand by while our people suffer because of unscrupulous business practices,” Gullas said in his official Facebook page. (JKV)