PB strips authority of Pinamungajan market com head

CEBU, Philippines - The Provincial Board has stripped the authority of the chairman of the committee on market of the municipal council of Pinamungajan to lease market stalls as authorized by the previous administration.

The PB committee on laws and review of ordinances chaired by Board Member Joven Mondigo Jr. has recommended the approval in part of the said ordinance following findings of violative provisions that need to be corrected, modified or deleted.

“Overall, the committee finds the ordinance valid and within the power vested in the municipal ordinance but it cannot be approved in its entirety,” said Mondigo.

Mondigo said that authorizing the chairman of the committee on market of the municipal council is “encroachment or deprivations of the authority of the Mayor to represent for the municipality in all its business transactions.”

However, Baricuatro told The FREEMAN that the committee on market is no longer existing under the present council. 

The PB also disapproved the fine of P3,000 for exceeding the limit of fine the municipality can impose, the ceiling being P2,500 as provided by the Local Government Code.

It also recommended that the term of contract of lease for a period of three years should be applied “prospectively and not retroactively” which means that it can only be imposed after the enactment and approval of the ordinance.

The PB took time to review the municipality’s tax ordinance revising the contract of lease of market stalls that was passed by the previous council on June 6, 2013 and was duly approved by then mayor Geraldine Yapha on June 19, days before Mayor Glen Baricuatro took over as the new mayor on June 30.

Councilor Oscar Cerna and four others expressed opposition to the ordinance, claiming the measure to be illegal and it subrogates the power of the mayor.

Vice Mayor Maria Honeylette Yapha-Lingad and six councilors asserted that the ordinance is neither contrary to existing laws nor subrogative of power of the mayor.

Mondigo endorsed the ordinance and the arguments of both parties to the Provincial Legal Office to elicit legal opinion as basis of the committee report.

Provincial Legal Officer, Orvi Ortega, declined to make official opinion saying that “his office would be placed in an awkward position in the event the controversy is brought to court for legal adjudication.” (FREEMAN)