Cebu Port Authority fence still not removed

CEBU, Philippines - It’s been more than a week since Mayor Michael Rama ordered City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete to have the metal fence constructed by the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) near the old Compania Maritima building removed.

However, the order is yet to be implemented.

Rama earlier said that he will personally remove the fence if his order will not be followed.

But when reminded about this yesterday, Rama just said, “wala pa ko kahuna-huna og kanus-a,” and then he walked out of the conference room.

Office of the Building Official (OBO) head Kenneth Enriquez explained that removing illegally constructed structures will undergo a process.

Enriquez said they usually refer the matter to the City Legal Office for study and preparation of the demolition order to be signed by the mayor.

Once the demolition order is  ready, it will be forwarded to the Prevention Restoration Order and Beautification Enhancement (Probe), the city’s demolition team, for implementation.

But Enriquez said he will first discuss the matter with Poblete for them to decide the move that they will take.

Rama wants CPA’s fence removed as the agency has not secured a permit from OBO for its construction.

The City Legal Office already gave its opinion that the CPA is not exempted from securing construction permit for any infrastructure project to be built even inside the port zone.

CPA’s chief legal officer Yosup Uckung earlier argued that they are exempted from securing permits from LGUs.

The CPA wanted to fence the area because they are planning to bid the property to prospective buyers.  —MBG (FREEMAN)