City officials discover 96-K illegal structures

_{CROWDED. This portion of Bokawkan Road, Guisad Road, and several other villages in Baguio City have become populated with houses, as viewed from a high elevation in Barangay Fairview. The City Building and Architecture Office has started to notify at least 96,000 structure owners in Baguio to comply with the requirement under the Building Code to have building permits so they could avoid sanctions. -- by Liza T. Agoot/PNA}

 

_{By Liza Agoot S}

_{BAGUIO CITY – Owners of about 96,000 structures built without required building permits thus deemed illegal, were told to correct their status or penalties and possibly demolition for violating Presidential Decree 1096 of the National Building Code of the Philippines.
    Information Office chief Aileen Refuerzo, in an interview on Tuesday, said non-compliance was discovered following site visits for census and after satellite images were matched with the registry of the city government.
    She said the City Building and Architecture Office (CBAO) started to issue letters and notices of violations (NOVs) to building owners.
    During a closed-door management committee meeting last week, CBAO assistant department head Stephen Capuyan said the 96,000 structures were composed of residential and commercial buildings, both standing on titled and untitled lots.
    The National Building Code of the Philippines prohibits the construction of structures without building permits. Violators will be penalized with an administrative fine of P10,000.
    She clarified that payment of the fine does not mean that owners no longer need to get permits.
Building owners on personally titled properties can submit an undertaking and commence the process of permitting.
    Those on untitled properties or “tax declaration” properties must commence the titling of the land and proceed to apply for a permit.
    Refuerzo said the CBAO has been doing a building permit promotions program, encouraging owners to obtain permits to legitimize the status of their structures.
    A building permit is an assurance of the safety of the structures especially, in times of calamities, she added.
“    Failure to comply will compel the CBAO to issue a notice of violation and start the proceedings under the building codes,” she said.
    The city has so far collected an average of P4 million since 2021 from building permit violations.
    The revenue is expected to increase when the CBAO imposes the penalty on the unpermitted structures identified in the census. -- PNA}