CEBU, Philippines - A complaint filed by a municipal official from Leyte at the Cebu City Hall yesterday against a review center, which he tagged as a “fly-by-night’ operation, seems to show some problems with regards to the application of business permits.
The Municipal Budget Officer of Tanauan, Leyte said that his son enrolled in a review center to prepare for the OIC Licensure Examination for Marine Officers this July. The center allegedly closed shop before the review schedule started.
Marcelino C. Mueva, Jr. and his son Mendel asked the help of City Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias to trace the whereabouts of a certain Kenneth Erejer, owner and general manager of Argo Nautical Tutorial Services.
They were informed by the building management of WDC Building along Osmeña Boulevard that the establishment ceased operation just last May 8, a day before the supposed start of the review classes.
Their office in the second floor of WDC Building is now closed and empty of furniture and other stuff.
Worse, they are having difficulty in retrieving the enrollment fee of P14,000 that Mendel paid when he registered for the review class last April 7.
Mendel said that he tried to contact Cebu Branch Manager Lisly Batli through her phone number and he was promised that a refund will be released a week after.
Batli even asked for his bank account where the refund will supposedly be deposited.
But when he tried to contact Batli after a week, he was told that no refund will be made until the WDC management releases the company’s ‘deposit’.
She also continued to refuse to answer queries why the review center ceased operation without prior notice and why they still accepted enrollees last month when they were already planning to close down, Mendel said.
Mendel tried to contact Batli again to ask for the contact details of her boss, but she could no longer be reached through her mobile phone.
Batli said that her boss’ name is Franklin Flores, but in their website, the name of the owner is a certain Kenneth Erejer.
The Muevas are now confused which name is fictitious, nevertheless, they intend to send a demand letter to Erejer.
The problem, however, is that they do not know his whereabouts or even the address of his residence.
Marcelino said that he tried to ask the help of National Bureau of Investigation in Tacloban to trace Erejer, but they were told to inquire at the Business Tax and License Fees Division of the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office to possibly retrieve Erejer’s business records.
“We were told to come here and get his business records because NBI said that Erejer must have a barangay clearance and police clearance submitted here since these are the requirements before an applicant is issued a business permit.
“We were hoping that his records here would tell us his address,” Marcelino said.
They need Erejer’s address so they could send the demand letter and also to help others who met the same fate as them.
From the business records, Erejer put the company’s business address as Room 401 CDC Bldg. II Corner Jakosalem St.
Room 401 CDC Bldg. was the address of the company before it transferred to WDC Bldg.
In Erejer’s tax payment history, it was indicated that Argo-Nautical Tutorial Services did not renew its business permit for this year, instead, the name of the business was changed to Infinite Review Center, which was issued a business permit last March 2.
In the CTO’s record, Infinite Review Center has the same owner and the same address as Argo-Nautical at Room 305-B WDC Bldg.
Marcelino said that therefore, when his son enrolled last April 7, Argo-Nautical no longer exists yet Argo-Nautical Tutorial Services was still the name on the official receipt issued to his son.
They also found inconsistencies in his records at the CTO because in the application form for business permit renewal, the name of the authorized representative who applied for the business permit in Erejer’s absence was a certain “Leylam Shawarma,” which is not a person but a food cart business.
Marcelino said that this could be a common problem in Cebu City, but nobody is paying attention because the victims do not know where to complain.
He said that he fears there are a lot like his son whose plans were messed up due to the sudden closure of the company without even an announcement that they transferred to another location or not.
They were told that Erejer was a ship captain so they plan to check his records at the Professional Regulation Commission.
The Mueva family is from Tanauan, Leyte but Mendel finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of Cebu in 1993.
He said he just heard the Argo-Nautical Tutorial Services from his fellow seafarers who reviewed at the institution and passed the exam.
They were told that the company has a good performance in the past so they were surprised of the sudden turn of events.
The Freeman tried to contact Batli through the cellphone number published at their official website but calls were not answered. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)