By Elly T. Bolonos and Jujemay G. Awit
Sunday,
May 13, 2012
THE
Office of the Building Official (OBO) faced major challenges recently with the
collapse of a retaining wall in a condominium building last month and the
collapse of a subdivision riprap last Tuesday.
With the
number of problems OBO is addressing, the lack of engineers or manpower
continues to haunt the office, but maybe not for long.
It was
only recently that OBO officer-in-charge Josefa Ylanan learned that the Cebu
City Council passed an ordinance that would make the office a separate
department.
Currently,
it is a division under the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW).
This is why Ylanan was never conferred the position of a department head.
This, as
some residents affected by the collapse of the wall of Horizon 101 are reported
to have returned to their homes without OBO’s permission.
They
were told by the City Government to evacuate after the wall collapsed last
month.
But when Sun.Star Superbalita visited the area yesterday, it saw
some of the residents back in their homes.
Damaged
More
than ten families have evacuated after their houses were damaged.
They
were transferred to nearby pension houses, with Taft Property footing the bill
and giving them food and other personal needs.
Taft
Property legal counsel Vincent Tomaneng said some of the residents have
returned to their homes.
But
Tomaneng said the families returned to their homes on their own.
Tomaneng
said, though, that the place is already safe for the residents after they
installed piles to strengthen the wall.
Ylanan
said the area is no longer that hazardous but she has yet to permit the
displaced families to return.
Ylanan
said the affected families defied the order of the City Government and she will
refer the matter to the City Legal Office tomorrow.
Ylanan
said their structural consultant, Engr. Ariel dela Cruz, has recommended that
the residents shouldn’t be advised to return to their houses unless piles have
been installed and the area filled.
Ylanan
appeared before the Council last Wednesday for the public hearing on the
sprouting of condominiums in Cebu City.
The
hearing was prompted by the collapse of a retaining wall of the first building
of the Horizons 101 along Gen. Maxilom Ave.
Ylanan
did not know that the ordinance to make OBO a separate department was passed
two sessions ago.
Questions
“Had I
known, I would have thanked the Council right there and then,” said Ylanan, who
was at the podium for a long time to questions about building permits of
condominiums.
The
latest challenge for OBO was the riprap collapse in Casa del Rio in Barangay
Talamban that killed two people and destroyed eight houses.
Ylanan
said the authority on the issue is the City Planning and Development Office
(CPDO) because a subdivision needs a development permit from the department.
It is
only for individual buildings that OBO comes in.
But OBO
sent a couple of staff to conduct an inspection. Ylanan said that has been a
pressing problem for the office. The personnel are swamped with work.
Funds
When OBO
officially becomes its own department, it can hire people waiting for the
availability of funds or personnel spots from DEPW.
Councilor
Jose Daluz III authored the ordinance to make OBO a separate department.
He said
the office has a one-year transition period when the head, Ylanan, can draft
her proposal for the department such as personnel plantilla and budget.
After
learning of the news last Wednesday afternoon, Ylanan said she will talk with
the Human Resource and Development Office on what her next step should be for
the transition.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu
newspaper on May 13, 2012.
