THE Cebu Provincial Board yesterday called for an investigation on the alleged illegal operation of an unfinished roll-on/roll-off (RORO) port in Daanbantayan, northern Cebu.
PB Member Sun Shimura, in his resolution that the Board passed yesterday, urged the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to conduct an inquiry on the operations of the port and the unauthorized collection of fees by a certain Alice Diaz there.
He said pump boat and resort operators have “vehemently objected” to the collection of fees.
“Several pump boat and resort operators complained of the alleged unauthorized collection of fees by Mrs. Alice Diaz in the RORO Port,” Shimura stated in his resolution.
The fees are allegedly collected every time cargoes are loaded and passengers embark on the docked vessels.
He said the road right-of-way to the port cuts through the property that Diaz claims to own as heir of the original owner.
Shimura said Diaz is the wife of the uncle of Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto Corro, former mayor and town councilor, Nieve Diaz. Corro will be challenged by Shimura’s father, Gen. Vicente Loot, in the town’s mayoralty race this coming May 9 elections.
Mayor Corro, in a phone interview with Cebu Daily News, said he already asked for a provisional permit to operate the port.
“My intention for this was to oversee the port, not to earn from it,” he said.
He said Diaz, his aunt, does not operate the port. He also denied any knowledge of the parking and entry fees as well as those imposed on the passengers.
The mayor said he merely allowed Diaz to use the port as a venue to deploy her “porters.”
“The issue here is the porterage fees. What’s wrong with that? It’s like in terminals where there are barkers or conductors,” he said, adding there’s no municipal ordinance regulating the rates.
Corro said he has required Diaz to comply with the requirements so he can issue their association a business permit.
In a letter, pump boat and resort operators from Barangay Logon on Malapascua Island said Diaz charges P5 per passenger, P50 as parking fee, and P20 as entrance fee.
Diaz also allegedly charges P10 per case of soft drinks or beer or carton of beverage, P10 per steel bar, and P10 per sack of rice, flour, and cement that pass through her property.
“We recognize that our fees may be very useful in the maintenance of the port. However, the port was allegedly operated by Mrs. Alice Diaz without permission and the fees imposed are not authorized by the government. Neither is an official receipt issued,” the letter read further.
Copies of the letter were sent to President Benigno Aquino III, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, Cebu 4th District Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, PB Member Joven Mondigo Jr., Mayor Corro, and the members of the town council.
The complainants said they used the Abucay Private Wharf in the past for their regular activities under the close supervision of the municipal government, but they were directed to stop using the wharf “without any explanation.”
Maya Barangay Captain Elver Ali Abucay and his family own the Abucay Wharf.
Mayor Corro said he did not ask the operators to transfer from the Abucay port to the unfinished port. He said port users have been complaining about the allegedly excessive charges at the Abucay Port since late 2013, right after Supertyphoon Yolanda.
He said the Abucay family is an ally of the Loot family.
Shimura said the provincial government allocated P50 million for the establishment of the port, which hasn’t been completed. Neither has the CPA granted a permit to operate it.
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