The Naga city government assured that it would not close a gas facility whose permits were earlier canceled due to fire safety compliance issues. Naga legal counsel Alfredo Garcia Jr. told the court yesterday that the city is ready to issue a conditional business permit for the Pryce Gases Inc. plant.
“The mayor has no intention of closing the establishment. He wants to sit down with the management of Pryce Gas so we could settle everything. The mayor is willing to listen,” the lawyer.
Judge Alexander Acosta of the Regional Trial Court Branch 9 set another hearing on Monday.
PGI dispensed with the temporary restraining order application against the city and sought for the issuance of a writ of premilinary injunction.
Naga city was asked why it can’t grant a business permit, when it had issued a similar one to the Petronas Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Terminal in barangay Langtad, Naga City.
Harassment
Pryce, which has operated an LPG refilling plant in barangay South Poblacion since 1997, went to court after the city government canceled its business permit on June 19.
The cancellation was based on the May 15 decision of Naga Fire Marshall Vilma Abarquez to cancel the plant’s Fire Safety Inspection Certificate (FSIC).
Pryce lawyer Jennie Cabading lamented that while Naga and the fire department were denying a permit to the Naga plant, it had issued one for a bigger LPG terminal of Petronas Corp. in Langtad.
The fire marshall sent Pryce Gas a Notice to Comply on May 13 after citing certain fire safety violations with 15 days to comply. Cabading said the company already fulfilled the requirements.
She lamented that it was unfair that the city issued a conditional business permit to the Malaysian-owned Petronas Corp. which is operating a bigger facility, an LPG terminal, in barangay Langtad when Petronas’ conditional permit contains the notation “lacking FSIC”.
Cabading said she would discuss with Pryce officials the offer of Naga city to issue a conditional business permit.
She said this would not cure the “violations” of the company’s right to due process and equal protection of the law. In fact, the offer raises more questions than answers.”
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