ACTING Mayor Belen Fernandez has began consulting with legal advisers on the steps that should be taken after the Regional Trial Court Branch 40 under Judge Mervin Jovito Samadan nullified the resolution passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod during a controversial special session authorizing Mayor Benjamin Lim to negotiate the sale of MC Adore and a piece of land in Calasiao.

Fernandez noted that City Administrator Vlad Mata, an appointee of Lim who has been indisposed following a major health condition, has maintained the position that MC Adore is now a private property after Lim consummated the sale with the acceptance of the payment from the winning bidder.

Mata also maintains he has not received a copy of the decision of Samadan that declared as null and void the resolution passed by nine of 10 councilors during a special session called by Lim on April 20, 2012 when Fernandez, then presiding officer of the SP, was on official leave.

The acting mayor asserts that the RTC decision that ruled favorably on the petition of Sangguniang Panlungsod Secretary Ryan Ravanzo legally rules that the sale of the property is void from the beginning.

Mata also cited a bank now operating in the MC Adore area and the renovation of the whole complex by the company that bought it is expected to be completed by December this year as proof of his assertion.

NO PERMITS

However, Fernandez, who assumed post as acting mayor on May 16, has verified that the bank does not have a business permit issued by the One-Stop-Shop Business Center and neither does the buyer have a renovation permit from the City Engineering Office.

She said what was issued by the City Engineering Office was just a fencing permit.

“I checked with these two offices and neither issued permits to the bank,” Fernandez said, questioning why seemingly favored companies are operating in Dagupan without going through the required processes.

“What is happening to our city? Pinapayagan ang mga illegal structure, pinapayayagan ang opening ng isang bangko na walang business permit,” she said.

City hall observers believe that the mayor assured the winning bidder of exception from coverage of ordinances as part of the rush sale deal.

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