Chan, Radaza call on Año to give legal opinion on City Hall office dispute

Lapu-Lapu City District Representative Paz Radaza and Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan are seeking Interior Secretary Eduardo Año’s opinion on their office dispute. | CDN Digital file photos

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Both Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan and lone district Representative Paz Radaza have asked Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año to give a legal opinion on their feud over the authority to utilize the office space now used by the latter.

Chan, in an interview with CDN Digital, said he already asked Año to put in writing his earlier statement during an interview with Cebu press members regarding the dispute on the use of the Office of the District Representative.

“I already asked Secretary Año to put in writing their legal opinion regarding the matter, and we will give it to Representative Radaza nga kinahanglan mobalhin na gyud siya kay wala siyay katungod mogamit sa office,” Chan said.

(I already asked Secretary Año to put in writing their legal opinion regarding the matter, and we will give it to Representative Radaza that she would need to transfer from the office because she did not have the right to use it.)

Año, during his visit in Cebu last July 10, told members of the press that Chan has authority to decide on the use of City Hall offices as part of his functions as duly elected city mayor.

Read more: Año tells Radaza to vacate Lapu-Lapu City Hall office

Read more: DILG to Paz Radaza: Find a new office

Año also said that Radaza, as a member of the legislative department of the national government, should not stay in the City Hall, a local government unit.

Radaza, in a letter sent to Año dated July 10, also asked the DILG Secretary to clarify his position on the issue on the occupancy of the district representative of the office in the city hall.

“With the foregoing, we respectfully would like to request for your formal clarification on this matter.  Your clarification and/or directive would greatly guide us in determining the proper actions to be taken. We assure you that until receipt of your reply, we will maintain status quo and will not take action that would preempt or prejudice whatever your reply would be,” Radaza wrote.

Read more: Radaza to Año: Clarify directive on Lapu City Hall office feud

Radaza said she would continue to hold office at the City Hall building pursuant to a city ordinance enacted on June 10, 2019 which mandated that the city government should allocate office space for the district representative.

On July 1, Chan issued to Radaza, a notice to vacate District  Representative’s office space at City Hall because he would want to temporarily use it since the Mayor’s Office was still under renovation.

Chan said he would also use the office space for his staff and consultants once the works in his office would be completed./dbs