Eyeing a conspirary in fake permits: Tom wants all at CH covered by NBI probe

As the National Bureau of Investigation started yesterday its investigation over the proliferation of fake business permits, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he wanted all workers at the City Hall, including himself, to be investigated because he suspects there is a major conspiracy behind this matter.

It should not be just the employees at the City Treasurer's Office who should be subjected to the NBI probe but everybody at the City Hall including him. "I am included in this investigation. It is very important to show that nobody get special treatment here," he said.

The mayor previously said that any City Hall employee caught engaging in any dishonest activity will face the ultimate penalty of termination notwithstanding the criminal charges to be filed.

Two days ago, Osmeña ordered the closure of the Cebu Security Agency for operating with a bogus business permit. The day after, however, it was reopened after the firm paid penalties and charges.

But this prompted the NBI probe and angered Osmeña especially after the firm's owner Ophelia Alcordo executed an affidavit that her staff Nida Dina Benolirao who had the business permit application processed with a contact inside the City Treasurer's Office.

Alcordo, in her affidavit, stated that aside from the P7,875 she paid for business taxes, Benolirao told her that P25,000 more was needed to speed up the release of the permit, an allegedly usual facilitation fee collected from willing business permit applicants.

As this developed, Osmeña asked all business owners to check the permits issued to them and report any irregularity immediately to the City Hall before the city government itself catches the anomalous document.

"If their permits are fake then they should inform us immediately and let us see what we can do about these. They will not be penalized except the payment of proper taxes," the mayor said.

Osmeña said that if the city government found out that a permit was bogus, then the business owner would be penalized with a fine of as high as P400,000 including the closure of his or her establishment.

So far this year, the mayor has already ordered the closure of at least seven business establishments in the city for using fake permits or operating without the required permits. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan