THE Gaisano Capitol in Barangay Mintal, Tugbok District still have time to apply for regulatory permits following the fire incident on January 11, an official of Davao City Legal Office (CLO) said.
CLO Officer-in-Charge Osmundo Villanueva said no immediate sanctions can be enforced yet to the mall.
“Pwede pa i-legalize ang structure after the construction of the building (A structure can be legalized even after its construction),” he said.
Villanueva added the management should just comply with the requirements such as zoning clearance among others.
He said the Building Code of the Philippines is curative in nature, the management of the mall can always apply permit later but this will include interest and penalties for the company.
Remedies are still available for reclassification of the land as the mall now stood in area classified as a residential area, which needs a zoning reclassification from the City Council, the CLO officer-in-charge said.
“The (remedy for that) is they should lobby the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) and follow the procedures in the grant of reclassification,” he said.
Villanueva said problems like this, including non-compliance of the zoning permits, should be seen in the earlier part of the construction and stoppage orders must be also enforced with political will.
He assured the non-issuance of the building permit, consequently follows non-issuance of business permit, and hence the mall cannot operate without the requirements required by law.
Acting City Engineer Joseph Dominic Felizarta, in an earlier statement, said they have issued a stoppage order for the mall in Mintal, and required its management to comply requirements.
Aside from zoning clearance, Department of Public Works and Highways clearance, the city also required the owner to comply with Fire Safety Evaluation Clearance as the mall was recently involved in a fire incident, Felizarta added.
Davao City Councilor Bernard Al-ag, in a text message to SunStar Davao, said officials from the Gmall Mintal already inquired about the reclassification process.