Consolacion mayor refutes shipyard owners’ claim

CEBU, Philippines —  Consolacion Mayor Joannes Alegado has refuted in court the allegations raised by five shipyard operators and owners who sought the court’s intervention after the municipal government did not issue a business permit to their respective businesses.

The petitioners had asked the court to issue an ex-parte 72-hour temporary restraining order, a 20-day TRO, and a writ of preliminary injunction, and/or status quo ante order.

“Mahug og gi-set aside ang ilang petition kay unsa may i-TRO nga wala may action on our part. I did not issue any warning, I did not issue closure order. Wa lang. Gipasagdahan ra namo sila to do their business. No more hearing na but I asked the court nga tubagon na namo within 30 days ang ilang mga alegasyon sa ilang petition and the court will issue a memorandum,” the mayor told The Freeman last night.

The five Cebu-based shipyard operators and owners have warned of a “destruction and chaos” may erupt in the shipyard industry should the municipal government of Consolacion succeeds in its plan to close their businesses in favor of a massive infrastructure project at the area where they are currently situated.

The petitioners claimed that the municipal government issued business permit to them only up to June 30, 2021 and not up to December 31, 2021 which is the usual period for the permit.

The petitioners are the Philippine Grid Construction Corporation, Fortune Shipworks, Inc., Nagasaka Shipyard Inc., PKS Shipping Company Inc., and Uni-Orient Pearl Ventures, Inc.

In their 54-page petition, they claimed that they are in dire and unfortunate situation due to an ambitious and impracticable 235.80-hectare Seafront City Reclamation Project.

They said that this infrastructure development was envisioned as public-private partnership between the municipality of Consolacion and La Consolacion Seafront Development Corporation.

The petitioners claimed that this massive infrastructure project will wipe out their drydocks and slipways and their ship maintenance and repair which services 70 percent of the ship plying the Visayas and Mindanao region.

In a meeting on January 25, 2021, Consolacion Vice Mayor Teresa Alegado reportedly told them that it’s high time for the shipyards to cease its operation in the area.

Sought for comments, Vice Mayor Alegado said that, “ang gobyerno na gani mogamit mura man og way katarungan babagan labi na og maghatag kaayuhan sa kinabag an.”

The vice mayor said that despite of the expiration of the business permits of these entities, the city government did not close their businesses but did not issue a business permit.

She said that Mayor Joannes Alegado and the Philippine Reclamation Authority have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding

“So, anytime notice to proceed will follow after some other requisites are accomplished. That is why we cannot issue permits but while wala pa mi mahuman sige man sila maka operate lisud mohatag mi permit kay anytime mogamit na mi sa dagat,” the vice mayor said.

She added that the Seaport City Reclamation Project is a PPP project for a mixed commercial, industrial, institutional, and tourism development of which the town needs for its economic growth and to complement to rapid migration due to the overflow of Mandaue City, Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City.

She said that Consolacion is the adjacent destination for this kind of accommodation and this can bring employment, income generation to the municipality and amenities which a commercial hub so requires.

“This could provide greater opportunities for every one looking for domestic jobs. The developer envisions this project as a landmark for Cebu as an integrated urban center,” the former town mayor said.

The closure of the shipyard would mean termination of 302 employees, 539 contractors’ employees, termination of numerous ship repair and drydockimg contracts, absence of repair facilities for the continuing maintenance of Philippine Navy ships, non-usage of infrastructure built over the past 60 years and the crippling if not destruction of the local and national shipyard industry.

In filing the petition for certiorari and prohibition, the petitioners prayed for the Court to annul, reverse and set aside the letter dated June 18, 2021 issued by Consolacion Mayor and Judith Pepito of the Business Permits and Licensing Office, which they claimed as being issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of excess of jurisdiction.

It was on June 18, 2021 that petitioners received the denial letter denying their application for a business permit that is valid until December 31, 2021.

Mayor Alegado in denying their application for business permit for the use of the foreshore area for ship repair and other related shipbuilding activities owing to the expiration of shipyard operators’ lease agreement/tenure instrument with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the continued occupation of the latter’s foreshore area.

“Sobra na sa 50 ka tuig sila nagpahimulos anang dapita. Their lease agreement with DENR expired already,” the mayor said.

“Such foreshore area, as the petitioners have been aware, is also to be made part of the La Consolacion Seafront Development Project,” the petition reads.

The mayor said that the estimated P20 billion reclamation project will start within the year.

“Wala na nagpasabot nga inig sugod gyud sa project, mahawa na na silang tanan nganha may it’s a 200-hectare project, but eventually they have to move out,” the mayor added. — GMR (FREEMAN)