The cost-saving measure was ordered following a meeting between Mayor Peewee Trinidad and all department heads. The order, issued by city administrator Ernestina Bernabe-Carbajal, also ordered the conservation of office supplies, gasoline, control of disbursements, and no office renovation unless it was essential.
Aside from switching off conditioners between noon to 1 p.m. and at the end of office hours at 5 p.m., the city also ordered the closure of the building by 7 p.m., leaving only some lights on for security purposes.
Exempted from the mandatory 7 p.m. closing is the City Council on Tuesdays when it holds late afternoon to night sessions.
As this developed, the Pasay City Council passed a resolution declaring the NAIA III an economic zone, affirming an earlier presidential decree issued by former President Fidel Ramos.
While Resolution 1693 admits that its endorsement and approval of the presidential declaration is unnecessary, the resolution was still passed after NAIA III developers, the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (PIATCO), asked for it.
The City Council earlier questioned the declaration but later conceded that the NAIA III case is not one of those provided in the Local Government Code requiring such local government coordination and approval.
With the presidential declaration, Pasay City stands to gain two-percent from the gross income of all business establishments in the zone projected to be at least P40 million a year in the next 25 years. The NAIA terminals I and II earn an average of P4 billion yearly.
The Pasay City Council said the expected income is four times higher that the estimated earnings the city would get from permits and licenses for businesses in the area. As an economic zone, businesses there would be exempt from taxes. – Jose Aravilla