Tomas won’t let Abuhan reopen
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will not allow the branch of Abuhan Restaurant along Ramos Street to reopen despite the management pledging to pay what it owes the city in taxes.
Abuhan will enter into a compromise agreement with the city for it to pay within six months taxes and regulatory fees amounting to P566,188.97.
But this aspect of payment, Osmeña said, is a recommendation of the city treasurer’s office, not his.
“I’m not going to allow them to reopen, but to compromise, sige nalang… but that’s not my recommendation. That’s the recommendation of the City Treasurer’s office,” the mayor said.
He said that to allow the branch to reopen would be unfair to businesses that have been paying taxes religiously.
“I don’t feel it is appropriate to set a policy that if you get caught not paying taxes, all you have to do is pay then you can reopen. Alkanse gyud ang siyudad. There has to be some heavy penalties,” Osmeña said.
The management of Abuhan failed to secure a business permit for its branch on Ramos Street from 2013 to 2017. On November 30, the city government ordered the branch closed.
Its owner, Jose Antonio Osmeña, is the mayor’s first degree cousin.
The mayor warned business owners:
“All those of you: If you are caught and if you have no business permit, we will close you down and you cannot reopen maybe for two or three years.”
The mayor is on a crackdown against businesses not paying taxes to the city. Abuhan’s branch along Ramos Street is the eighth casualty.
Last August, the city closed two branches of the famous Rico’s Lechon, as well as its central commissary. It was followed by the closure of Time Out Sports Bar, Jeshian Café, Ed’s Tambayan, and Chuva-Chuva.
Osmeña said no business will be spared from the campaign, big or small, even if the owners are his relatives, if it is found to have been evading payment of taxes.