Container depot in Mandaue City ordered closed for lack of permit

A CONTAINER depot along JM Ceniza Street in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City has been ordered closed by the Office of the City Mayor after being established that they were operating without a business permit since 2012.

The Office of the City Mayor has directed the City Legal Office to enforce the closure order dated April 17, 2017 in coordination with the Office of the City Treasurer within the week against Philippine Multimodal Freight Services (PMFS) Inc., which is operated by Anne Marie Louise Ugarte.

The container depot is currently moving all their container vans from the area due to the closure order.

It was in June 2012 when the first complaint was sent to the office of former Mandaue City mayor and now Congressman Jonas Cortes regarding the noise of the operation especially at night, the danger posed by trailer trucks passing a narrow road, the traffic caused by trailer trucks and roads getting damaged.

The letter of complaint was signed by the affected residents of Sitio Superior, Barangay Looc with the assistance of former Looc barangay captain Raul Cabahug.

In February 2013, there was an agreement between the container depot (formerly named Van Transport owned by Louis Ugarte) and the residents represented by Erly Torivillas with Looc Barangay Captain Raul Cabahug.

They agreed to stop the operation at 5 p.m. each day, not to park their trucks at JM Ceniza St., secure a business permit, repair any damaged road caused by their trucks and create a drainage in the area.

In June 2016, Mayor Luigi Quisumbing referred the matter to the city legal office, which found violations of the terms of agreement during an ocular inspection.

In her letter to the mayor, Ms. Ugarte explained that they are not the only container depot in the area and that they are not the cause of traffic, but allegedly the illegal parking along JM Ceniza Street and the eateries encroaching the road.

Ugarte further said in her letter that they are no longer renewing their lease with Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (Opascor) and their operation in the area expires in August this year.