Building official says tax dec a requirement for power connection amnesty

July 10, 2021 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY – Arch. Johnny Degay, City Building Official, explained to the city council why the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) requires applicants of the electrical service connection amnesty to submit a copy of the tax declaration of the lot where the residential structure is built apart from those requirements that are indicated in the amnesty ordinance.
Engr. Carlo Bentayen, representative of the Accredited Electrical Practitioners, brought the matter to the city council, asking whether the additional requirement is necessary.
In April 2021, the city council once again enacted an ordinance (Ordinance Numbered 54, Series of 2021) granting an amnesty to applicants for electric connection for a period of six months.
The ordinance shall provide relief to applicants in the issuance of Certificate of Final Electrical Inspection (CFEI) or Certificate of Electrical Inspection (CEI) for Electrical Service Connection. The amnesty shall apply to all residential dwellings with no building permits but with building tax declarations and to agricultural structures such as sheds, barns, and hatcheries, among others.
Under the ordinance, the following are the requirements for the issuance of the CFEI/CEI by the City Buildings and Architecture Office: Electrical plan duly signed and sealed by a licensed professional electrical engineer and certified to be compliant with the Philippine Electrical Code; proof of ownership of the structure or building like deed of sale, waivers, tax declaration of the building or authorization from registered/declared building owner; certificate of non-tax delinquency of the building or Certificate of Exemption from payment of real property tax; and barangay certification attesting that the applicant is a bonafide resident of the barangay.
Bentayen stressed that a copy of the tax declaration of the lot is not included in the list of requirements specified by the ordinance. Degay explained the tax declaration is a valuable document in checking whether the residential structure is within the road-right-of-way, a waterway, or a forest reservation.
Under Section 3 of the ordinance, the amnesty shall not apply to structure built within “(a) forest and watershed reservations in the City of Baguio; (b) those with pending demolition order or whose building/structure were once demolished on the same place; and (c) structures on waterways, road-right-of-way and declared high-risk areas.”
Councilor Michael Lawana requested the CBAO to look into the possibility of simplifying the application process without overburdening the applicants with documents and procedures that are not required by the ordinance. Bentayen also begged to be clarified why applicants with titled properties are disqualified from the power connection amnesty.
Degay explained that allowing individuals to avail of the amnesty for their titled properties runs counter to the provisions of the National Building Code as the Code specifies a procedure for the application for CFEI.
The city council during its previous regular session also stressed that the amnesty is intended to help those whose houses have no building permit and are erected on untitled properties.
Individuals whose properties are titled and have acquired a building permit may go through the usual process of the application for CFEI, the council stated.
The amnesty ordinance stipulated that structures built in violation of the National Building Code of the Philippines and other related laws should not be condoned and that the CBAO and other concerned agencies are not prevented from demolishing the structures based on other lawful grounds.
(JGH-SP/ABN)