Contributed by Zarah Jane I. Diche
By Christine Megrino, Intern
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Even after the recent fire at the Gaisano Capital shopping mall in Barangay Mintal here, the City Engineers Office said owners must still pay the violations for illegally constructing their building without complying with necessary regulatory requirements, including the zoning permit.
After the fire, the CEO has ordered the Gaisano management to stop further the construction works.
Engr. Joey Francis Felizarta, head of city engineers, said that they already issued a “notice of violation” to the business establishment because it lacks government permits.
“Since they presented their plans of application in the City planning, then we just conducted a pre-evaluation in the area,” he said.
He added that even if the business establishment failed to stop its construction, penalties will still continue until they acquire their permit.
Last year, Felizarte said that even the City planning office issued a stoppage order they continued the construction without without having zoning permit.
“We will impose penalties, that will be times two on the computation of the fees for the building permit, they will probably pay 100 percent,” he said.
Felizarta added that the establishment will face more penalties like the P500 per day penalty of not having a zoning permit.
He warned that Gaisano Mintal including other illegally constructed establishments could still acquire business permits but will face penalties from other departments.
“We are not pointing fingers here but the zoning people are the first one to know if the building fits its location,” he said.
As of now, The CEO head said the building owner wished to continue its construction while complying for the other permits.
Based from the report of Bureau of Fire and Protection, the properties damaged due to fire was pegged at P3 million. (davaotoday.com)
