CPA sued over lack of permits

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government, through the Office of the Building Official (OBO), has filed criminal and administrative complaints against the former and current general managers of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) over its “illegal structures and buildings.”

In a document sent to The Freeman, Cebu City Legal Attorney Vincent Carlo Gimena said they filed 18 counts of criminal complaints against former general manager Glenn Castillo and current General Manager Francisco Cañete Comendador III for alleged violations of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, usurpation of authority under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code, and of Section 301 in relation to Section 213 of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1096 (National Building Code of the Philippines).

The administrative complaints, on the other hand, were grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

Architect Florante Catalan filed the complaints in his personal capacity as OBO head.

In his sworn affidavit, he said it was last January 2023 that they conducted an ocular inspection in the vicinity of the Aduana area when they noticed ongoing constructions.

“(I)t was observed that several structures and buildings were constructed, and now operated inside the CIP Complex and the Cebu Base Port,” he said.

Catalan said that among those they discovered was that the structures were built or being built without any building and occupancy permits from his office, which is a violation of the National Building Code.

He cited a provision of the Code that states that a “corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of the National Building Code shall be penalized and in case of a corporation firm, partnership or association, the penalty shall be imposed upon its officials responsible for such violation.”

In a January 24, 2024 legal opinion, the City Legal Office told him that the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA), which was behind the construction, is required to secure building and occupancy permits pursuant to Section 301 of PD 1096.

“Under Section 301 of the National Building Code, it provides that no person, firm or corporation, including any agency or instrumentality of the government shall erect, construct, alter, repair, move, convert or demolish any building or structure or cause the same to be done without first obtaining a building permit,” the City Legal Office said.

In line with this, the City Legal Office sent a letter to CPA asking for a list of all of its buildings and a copy each of their building and occupancy permits.

The CPA then responded and provided at least 14 properties, prompting the issuance of several notices of violations on Feb. 2, 2023.

“Despite all the notices we have given, respondents did not comply and conform to the requirements of the law,” Catalan said.

Among the notices sent to CPA was a May 31, 2024 “notice of illegal construction and work stoppage order.”

Despite the notices, however, CPA allegedly went on and continued with more construction activities.

Catalan said they then received a Feb. 9, 2023, reply from Castillo, “seemingly threatening” that “their acts of routinary inspections and alleged random incursions are violations of the Writ of Preliminary Injunction issued by RTC Branch 10 of Cebu City.”

Castillo, Catalan said, even told them that the notices of violations were “baseless.”

“As of the present time, the Cebu Port Authority still fails and continuously fails to comply with the legal directives of our office. In fact, there is no indication or hint of intention on their part to abide with the several Notices of Violation issued against Cebu Port Authority,” Catalan said in his affidavit. (CEBU NEWS)