City Legal Office: CPA Required to Secure Permit from OBO

The Cebu City Legal Office had advised the Office of the Building Officials (OBO) to require the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to first secure a construction permit if it wants to build a fence near the old Compania Maritima building.

City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez has concurred with the legal opinion of assistant city attorney Lyndon Basan that the CPA is not exempted from securing construction permit as provided for under the National Building Code.

Basan cited Section 301 of Presidential Decree 1096, which provides that “no person, firm or corporation, including any agency or instrumentality of the government shall erect, construct, alter, repair, move, convert —without first obtaining a buildingpermit from OBO.”

Bernaldez argued that with such provision of the law it is very clear that the Cebu Port Authority, although holds a charter of its own, cannot be exempted from securing a building permit for construction as the fact remains that it is governed by the law.

CPA legal affairs department manager Yusop J. Uckung earlier said that even if they do not have construction permit for their ongoing fencing project on the CPA property along the old Compania Maritima building, the project is not considered illegal.

Uckung said he does not remember that the port officials are securing permits from OBO when they build projects within the CPA’s territorial jurisdiction, but Mayor Michael Rama said it cannot be done anymore under his watch.

Bernaldez said the authority of OBO to require CPA to secure first construction permit before the project will be started cannot be doubted.

“Although the subject construction is within the property of the CPA, it cannot be denied that the same is still situated within the territorial jurisdiction of the City of Cebu, therefore, it is still within the scope of the power of OBO where the subject construction is being done,” Basan said.

The CPA had already dug up several holes within the area near the Senior Citizens Park is situated where they want to build the posts for the fence.

But the mayor ordered that the CPA fencing project be stopped because they do not have permit and, second because CPA wanted to include in the fencing the portion that used to be the Quezon Boulevard.

Quezon Boulevard is the road that is situated at the back of Carbon Market passing the back portion of the old Compania Maritima, then to the old Bureau of Customs building up to the Pilot House in Pier 1.

City Engineer Kenneth Carmelita Enriquez who is the concurrent head of OBO said that while the CPA is allowed to construct projects within the port zone, but they are not exempted to secure construction permit.

Enriquez said even the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) officials have told her that PPA is complying with the provisions as provided for under the National Building Code.