Mayor orders stoppage of construction projects without building permits
Building a house or a shop? Make sure that you have your building permits with you.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong on March 3, 2023 ordered the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) to work with the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) in monitoring and halting ongoing constructions that have no building permits.
The BCPO under City Director PCol. Francisco Bulwayan Jr. will now include ongoing constructions in their patrol activities to determine which of these are covered and not covered by building permits.
Those without permits will be reported to the CBAO led by Building Official Arch. Johnny Degay and Asst. Head Engr. Stephen Capuyan for proper sanction.
“We are taking this campaign seriously since this is a very crucial issue in our city. It is not just an issue of safety but also of health and sanitation, all of which are critical factors affecting the well-being of our residents,” the mayor said.
The city leveled up its building permit program starting with an inventory of all existing permitted and unpermitted structures.
As of now, the census has covered a total of 120,000 structures, 80 percent or 96,000 of which have no building permits.
“This is so unfortunate and we have yet to determine how many of these have no septic tanks, how many are unsafe, how many unsafe structures are being rented out to students and visitors among other concerns,” the mayor said.
The city also has an ongoing program to help those without building permits to secure their own permits and legalize the status of their buildings through simplified procedures starting with those whose structures are built on titled lots or covered by a notice of award.
To date the CBAO said they have received more than 90 applications from the targeted sector.
To apply, building owners of existing completed structures on titled properties or with Order of Award from DENR can signify their intent to legalize their structures by registering their names in the link: tinyurl.com/4jwcz2fj.
CBAO personnel will readily render assistance and will contact those who registered through the link in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
The streamlined process is pursuant to Memorandum No. 1 series of 2022 on Applications for Building Permits under Specific Circumstances adopted for the purpose.
The mayor assured that other structures built on lots with different status or circumstance will be addressed later on pending finalization of the guidelines. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
