Construction of burned condominium suspended

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City’s Office of the Building Official has issued a suspension order for the construction of the proposed 35-storey condominium building in Barangay Kasambagan that caught fire that lasted for several hours last Friday afternoon.

OBO issued a suspension order yesterday afternoon to Shogun Management and Corporation on its construction work at the moment.

“You are hereby advised to stop or suspend immediately upon receipt hereof the construction of your Proposed 35- Storey Condominium Building with Building Permit No. B01-2017-500-702 at Brgy. Kasambagan,Cebu City,” read part of the suspension order from OBO signed by its chief, Architect Florante Catalan.

This is based “on the recommendation of the Chief Enforcement Division-OBO, and in connection with P.D.1096 otherwise known as the National Building Code of the Philippines.”

Along with this, the management had been instructed to submit an incident report for corrective actions, methodology, mitigation works, other relevant documents, and a justification letter as OBO should lift the suspension order.

“Mitigating measures should be made immediately so as to prevent any further damages and untoward incidents,” Catalan added.

The management is given three days from the receipt of the said order to comply with the requirements.

Should the management fail to comply within the allotted time, the OBO will then endorse it to the City Legal for proper legal action.

“Quoted hereunder is Section 213 of P.D.1096, otherwise known as the National Building Code of the Philippines— It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert, demolish, equip, use, occupy, or maintain any building or structure or cause the same to be done contrary to or in violation of any provision of the Code” the said order also indicated.

As such, any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of the Code and/or commit any act hereby declared to be unlawful shall upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than P20,000 or by imprisonment of not more than two years or by both such fine and imprisonment.

“Provided, that in the case of a corporation, firm, partnership or association, the penalty shall be imposed upon its officials responsible for such violation and in case the guilty party is an alien, he shall immediately be deported after payment of the fine and/or service of his sentence. (Section 213.Penal Provisions)”

“Again quoting Section 212.2 of Rule II of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of P.D. 1096 thus "A surcharge of 100% shall be imposed and collected from any person who shall construct, install, repair, alter, or cause any change in the use or occupancy of any building or parts thereof or appurtenances thereto without any permit," ended Catalan.

Prior to the issuance of the suspension order of construction, one of the Mayor’s special assistants, Ramil Ayuman, said that OBO chief Catalan together with its office consultant, Engr. Ariel Dela Cruz, conducted an inspection yesterday afternoon at Grand Residences tower 4.

Catalan also clarified news reports that the building is actually only 35-storey and not 37-storey. —  GMR (FREEMAN)