“Let’s talk premised on rebidding”
BELEN ON MC ADORE
THE city is open to talks but its demand for rebidding or renegotiation is non-negotiable.
This was the gist of the message of Mayor Belen Fernandez to the AMB ALC Holdings and Management Inc., the company that bought the former MC Adore Hotel from the city government, to address the complaints of the latter’s difficutly to operate owing to the pendency of the court case about the legitimacy of the purchase.
Fernandez, in a press conference Wednesday, reiterated her earlier objection to the sale of the city’s property citing the millions that the city lost because the past city administration under then Mayor Benjamin Lim set the floor price for bidding at almost 100% lower than the property’s market value.
The mayor, however, said despite the unresolved and contentious situation with MC Adore, she acknowledges the investments being made by the company in the city, including a new restaurant near the Region 1 Medical Center, that was recently granted a business permit.
When City Engineer Virginia Rosario was asked to clarify what permit was issued to AMB ALC Holdings, she pointed out that her office merely issued a fencing permit but not a building permit which was required before any area could be renovated inside the hotel building for the Citystate Savings Bank.
The Citystate Savings Bank was built on the ground floor of the former MC Adore Hotel and has been operating since June without the building permit nor a business permit from the city government.
Rosario said the bank only applied for a building permit after the bank’s management was informed of its failure to apply for the permit.
The processing of the building permit application was eventually halted by Rosario’s office pending the final determination of the case filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) questioning a resolution of the Sangguniang Panlungsod authorizing Lim to negotiate the sale of MC Adore
Regional Trial Court Judge Mervin Jovito Samadan had issued a decision last May 20, 2013 declaring the sanggunian resoltuion authorizing the sale of the MC Adore hotel properties as null and void.
The case is currently under appeal.
City Legal Officer George Mejia declined to discuss the case with newsmen citing the rules of sub judice.
Meanwhile, the One-Stop Business Center (OSBC) also confirmed in an interview over DWIZ last week that there is no record of a business permit issued to Citystate Savings Bank nor is there a pending application for it.
Another issue that hounds the AMB ALC Holdings is the unauthorized use of the electric meter of the city government by Citystate.
The mayor was advised by the Dagupan Electric Corporation last August that the electric meter being used by the bank is still under the name of the Dagupan City government and is being charged for consumption used by the bank.
The electric meter in question was previously installed for the use of the police community precinct that used to occupy the area but the bank could not show any authoriztion from the city for its use.
The news story about the use of the meter and payments for its use is now the subject of a libel complaint filed by the bank against Dominador Liwag of Decorp and The PUNCH publisher-editor Ermin F. Garcia and seven staff members.
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