THE Cebu Port Authority (CPA) has condemned the Cebu City Government for blocking the entrance to its port extension project.
In an official statement issued on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the CPA said the City defied the writ of injunction issued in favor of the CPA when it forcibly entered port premises, which are outside its territorial jurisdiction.
“Thus, we strongly condemn these flagrant acts of oppression, harassment, grave abuse and usurpation of authority, and blatant disregard of the law and judicial processes committed by men and women in the seat of power who publicly display knowledge of the law yet conceal a weak ethical core,” said the CPA.
On Monday, April 1, the City installed rail fences to block the entrance to the CPA’s port extension project located across the Compania Maritima.
This, after Mayor Michael Rama learned that the construction of the project had resumed, prompting him to order Cebu City Police Office personnel to report to the area.
City officials led by City Administrator Collin Rosell went to the site to enforce the notice of illegal construction and work stoppage order that the Office of the Building Official (OBO) had issued.
City Legal Officer Carlo Vincent Gimena sent a statement to SunStar Cebu, stating that the City’s actions were legal and ethical.
“Contrary to their unfounded statement, there is no defiance to the writ of preliminary injunction that they mentioned because the implementation of OBO’s order did not touch on the issue of ownership or possession of the subject premises,” said Gimena.
He reiterated that the CPA does not have the power or authority to issue building and fencing permits for the construction of its structures.
Gimena said the City will do what is necessary within the bounds of the law and ethics to protect the interests of the city.
The OBO filed a case against the CPA on March 15 after the latter refused to comply with notices from City Hall regarding its construction of structures without the necessary permits.
Last February, the OBO discovered through ocular inspections that the CPA had constructed a perimeter fence, as well as started work on a wharf along the Cebu South Coastal Road near the Malacañang sa Sugbo (now National Museum of the Philippines-Cebu) without securing permits.
The City Government has an ongoing ownership dispute with the CPA over the Compania Maritima premises, which is part of the area to be redeveloped under the City’s P8 billion joint venture agreement with Megawide Construction Corp. to modernize the century-old Carbon Public Market.
In December 2022, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted the CPA’s application for a writ of preliminary injunction to prohibit the City from occupying any portion of the Compania Maritima premises.
In August 2023, the RTC denied the City’s motion for reconsideration, and affirmed the CPA’s ownership of the Compania Maritima and its premises.
In September 2023, the City had a run-in with the CPA after the CPA installed a steel fence along the seaside near the Compania Maritima. / RJM