Waivers for illegal structures are fake–City Hall
SCANDAL ROCKS DAGUPAN
THEY are fake.
This was the belated reaction of the office of the Dagupan City mayor to the report of illegal occupation of beachfront by affluent illegal settlers at the foreshore area in Bonuan Binloc.
After three weeks of deliberations by the sangguniang panglunsod (SP), Dagupan City Administrator Vladimir Mata said the waivers purportedly issued by Mayor Benjamin Lim to illegally-built houses along the foreshore land in Sitio Silungan, Bonuan Binloc bear forged signatures and used falsified letterheads.
The PUNCH published a copy of the waiver in its issue last week.
“Nakapagtataka talaga ito dahil obvious na obvious na may namemeke, may nagfa-falsify para palabasin na nabigyan sila ng waiver upang makapag-apply ng electricity diyan sa lugar na yan,” said Mata.
These waivers were used by the owners of the structures to secure an electrical connection from the Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) in lieu of a Certificate of Final Electrical Inspection (CFEI) issued by the City Engineering Office to houses or buildings that first secured building permits.
Arsenio Zacarias, assistant retail service manager of Decorp, presented on November 27 before the SP a list of 112 residential houses that they provided electrical connection in Sitio Silungan between the period 2007 to 2010.
Of these, 64 used the mayor’s waivers alone, 36 with waivers plus an attached certification from Bonuan Binloc Barangay chairmen past and present, and 12 have permits issued by the City Engineering Office, that are also suspected to be fake.
Mata stressed that the mayor did not issue a single waiver for anyone in the area.
“Malinaw yan. Wala tayong ini-isyuing waiver at hindi inaa-allow yan ng batas,” he said.
In a statement, Mata also said that it is “the standing policy of Mayor Benjamin S. Lim purposely to discourage illegal public land occupation, especially in the city’s river banks.”
Mata further pointed out that the letterhead of at least one of the waivers in question, issued to one Janzinni Grace Diaz who owns a house supposedly made of light materials at Sitio Silungan, bore the new seal of Dagupan which was just launched during the Bangus Festival in April 2011 while the waiver was dated Nov. 25, 2010.
VERIFICATION
City Hall has reportedly recalled the waiver from Decorp to verify their authenticity.
However, Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the SP, has proposed that an independent investigation also be conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation or the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Fernandez said that if the waivers are indeed fake, the large-scale issuance of fake waivers “is not only criminal but conspiratorial in nature and therefore, the perpetrators must be identified.”
Domindor Liwag Jr., retail service manager of Decorp, said once it is established that the waivers are fake, the company will disconnect the electricity supply to the structures.
DEMOLITION ORDER
Mata said the structures, built without a permit from the City Engineering Office, are now set to be demolished after the issuance of three notices to the owners.
City Engineer Virginia Rosario said she is awaiting written orders from the city hall to effect the demolition.
In a statement issued by city hall on Friday, Lim said Rosario does not need a direct order from him to demolish the structures as “it is her mandated task to go around the city and issue discontinuance order against any illegal construction from the very beginning.”
Some of the buildings constructed illegally are already being used for commercial purposes including the operation of resorts, inns and spas.
Mata also pointed out that the One-Stop-Business Shop has certified that the commercial establishments in the area did not secure mayor’s permit and sanitary permit.
The city administrator, however, did not explain how the establishments escaped official notice when it ordered a mapping of business establishments in the city early this year.
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