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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
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ILOILO City – The conflict between a cockpit operator in Barangay Don Esteban, Lapuz district and the owner of the lot where the cockpit stands is none of the local government’s business, said Acting Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
Espinosa has granted the Rockwell Lumber Cockpit Arena a business permit.
Cockpit operator Rodrigo Dellomes is at odds with lot owner Petra Cheng Sing. The latter denied authorizing the former to use her lot.
There are no legal impediments as far as the application for business permit is concerned, Espinosa said.
Rockwell Lumber Cockpit Arena complied with the requirements, including a franchise and a locational clearance, he said.
“I based my decision on the recommendation of (City Legal Officer) Atty. (Lorna) Laurea,” said the acting mayor.
In April, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog ordered the closure of the cockpit for operating without a franchise. The operator applied for franchise in 2015 but the Sangguniang Panlungsod then did not grant it.
On July 18, the city council approved a franchise ordinance for Rockwell and forwarded it to Mabilog.
The 10-day period for Mabilog to either veto or sign the ordinance lapsed on July 31, which means the measure was deemed approved, according to City Administrator Hernando Galvez.
Lot ownership is no longer the city government’s concern and must be settled by the concerned parties in court, Espinosa stressed.
Earlier, Sing’s lawyer Atty. Rey Canindo wrote Mabilog, saying the supposed Affidavit of Consent dated Nov. 14, 2014 that Dellomes submitted in requesting for franchise was “obviously a falsified document.”
“The signature of our client appearing thereon is apparently a forgery,” said Canindo.
Espinosa said the business permit may be revoked if this allegation is proven in court.
The legality of Rockwell’s opening another cockpit in the city was also questioned.
Councilor Mandrei Malabor, author of the franchise ordinance, cited the opinion of City Legal Office (CLO) in granting the franchise: “The SP is, under Section 458 (3) of the Local Government Code, duly empowered or authorized to grant another franchise should it find the need to do so, not only in the district of Lapuz but also in other districts of the city, considering that the population of the city is more than 500,000.”
Presidential Decree No. 440, or the Cockfighting Law, as amended by Presidential Decree (PD) 1310, provides that only one cockpit shall be allowed in each city or municipality. But in cities and municipalities with a population of more than 100,000, two cockpits may be established, maintained and operated in the poblacion, and one each city or town district.
“Based on the legal provision (Section 1 of PD 1310), it is the opinion of the undersigned that in the City of Iloilo, which has a population of more than 500,000, one cockpit may be established, maintained and operated in each district. In this case, the term district is being interpreted as an administrative district, which may consist of one or more barrios or barangays (per opinion of the Department of Justice No. 44, series of 1989),” the CLO opined./PN
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