BACOLOD City – The City Legal Office (CLO) served a notice to pay or vacate to two tenants at the Bacolod Manokan Country yesterday.
Lawyer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr., CLO head, said the tenants failed to comply with the compromise agreed with the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) in 2022.
Separate notices were served by CLO personnel to the two establishments, Carmen and Shibarose.
Part of the notice read, “Based on the compromise agreement entered dated Oct. 3, you have agreed to pay…P25,000 per month…As of this date, you have failed to pay two monthly installments.”
The city government is demanding Carmen stall to pay the whole amount of rental arrears worth P687,680.95, while Shibarose has total arrears of P660,543.20.
“This demand is hereby made for you to pay the total amount of rental arrears and vacate the premises within 15 days from receipt. Otherwise, we will be compelled to close your premises,” the notice read.
On Oct. 3, 2022, the CLO enforced a closure order against 15 tenants at the Bacolod Manokan Country for violation of City Ordinance 565 (revised local revenue code). But the CLO allowed them to reopen later that day.
Ting said the city government permitted them to continue doing business after signing a compromise agreement in which they would pay an initial amount and the remainder in installments until Dec. 31, 2022.
Only 14 tenants signed the agreement after one of the stall owners made a full payment.
Unsettled accounts accumulated from their failure to pay the monthly rentals plus penalties and surcharges.
The two tenants appealed to the city officials, especially Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, to reconsider. They failed to settle (November and December 2022) because they did not have enough business income, they explained./PN