Osmeña says local gov’t has no control over CPA

Former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former Cebu City mayor Tomas “Tom” Osmeña has something to say with regard to the matter between the Cebu Port Authority and the Cebu City government at present.

In an interview with reporters, Osmeña said that the local government had no control over the CPA, being a “constitutional body.”

“[The] Cebu Port Authority is an independent body. It’s a constitutional body. [The] local government cannot get into that,” Osmeña said.

READ: CPA: Alleged construction violations are baseless

He also added that just because the area where the ongoing construction of CPA’s infrastructure was located inside Cebu City’s boundary, would not mean  that the local government had control over it.

“Just like the Provincial Capitol is inside Cebu City, and we cannot say what happens inside the Capitol building [even if] it’s inside Cebu City,” Osmeña said.

And the last point that Osmeña said was that it was a “national government property.”

Osmeña’s statement came after the CPA released its official statement that stated their ownership of Compania Maritima premises, especially in the port area and along the Compania Maritima premises where their port infrastructure was under construction.

The CPA made their statement after learning that the Office of the Building Official (OBO) had taken a legal action. The OBO has filed complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, accusing the CPA of violating construction regulations, particularly related to the National Building Code or the Presidential Decree 1096.

The CPA is firm with their stand that the Cebu Port Authority “is not within the territorial jurisdiction of the Office of Building Official of Cebu City”as it is also beyond the “bounds of authority” granted to the OBO official under Section 207 of the National Building Code.

However, Lawyer Carlo Vincent Gimena, Cebu City legal officer, asserted that the CPA would have to secure a permit for their construction in the vicinity of the Aduana area, despite CPA’s claim.

Gimena cited Section 301 of the PD 1096 and said that under the provision of this section, there was no such thing that stated that the CPA was exempted of acquiring a permit for their construction in Cebu City area.

He also said that it did not matter who owned the property for as long as they would secure a building permit.

“The fact there remains nga magtukod gani ka’g structure (if you build a structure), you should secure building permit from the Office of the Building Official sa (in) Cebu City where the structures is located,” he said in a previous interview.