Osmeña steps up crackdown vs. firms with no permits

To intensify the monitoring of the business establishments’ compliance with the law, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will create a team that will run after business owners who have been operating without the permits.

In a news conference last Wednesday, the mayor said that 15 business establishments that operate without valid business permits will be shut down every week.

“I’m creating a special team. I’m giving them a quota to cancel 15 businesses a week. You have no business permit, closure. Simple,” he told reporters.

To show that he is serious, Osmeña said he will head the team himself.

“We’re cracking down on business permits. I want to make one thing very clear: you get caught, you apply (for business permit) then pay (the penalty), no. Your business will remain closed for years. There is no exemption,” he said.

Closure

So far, Osmeña has shut down two branches of Rico’s Lechon after its owner failed to secure and renew its business permits.

The City Legal Office has also issued a 72-hour notice to a bar and spa in Barangays Kasambagan and Mabolo, respectively, requiring its owners to explain why they don’t have approved business permits.

The mayor said they have identified thousands of businesses in the city that are operating without business permits from the City Government.

He said the City is also running after big firms that are illegally operating.

This is because the City is dead if it doesn’t properly collect taxes, he said.

New lawyers

To build up the team, the City will hire more lawyers who will draft orders against violators.

Osmeña said granting the business establishments’ application for a business permit is not automatic.

That is why owners of those stores that were earlier closed can’t immediately ask the City to approve their new application for a permit. /