Restobar owes P500K back taxes to City Hall

Aside from having no liquor permit, the Kuerks restobar has no mayor’s permit and owes the Cebu City government P723,000 in back taxes.
An inspection team from the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) told Mayor Michael Rama that the bar is operating despite lack of a business permit.
Acting City Treasurer Emma Vilarete said she has yet to update the restobar’s tax records to include the computation of unpaid amelioration taxes plus a 25 percent penalty and two percent monthly interest.
The Kuerks restobar located near the University of Cebu and the University of San Carlos was earlier found to be serving liquor to customers including minors, without a liquor permit in violation of a city ordinance.
A copy of the CTO inspection report signed by Juanita Monina Paires, head of the business tax mapping and inspection division, was submitted to the mayor’s office and the city legal office last Wednesday.
Leslie Reyes, lawyer in charge of the case, said she will write Kuerks management to demand an explanation.
Rama said in a separate interview that he would wait for the report.
“If (the report is) meritorious then I will sign the closure order. If they did something wrong there is always a consequence,” he said.
Villarete said her recommendation to close Kuerks restobar has nothing to do with the July 7 brawl outside involving Councilor Gerardo Carillo who was accused of hitting a teenager in the head with a rock during a commotion outside the bar Sunday dawn.
CTO inspectors visited Kuerks last June 1 in response to a letter complaint of Jose Marie Gochangco, managing director of the nearby GV Hotel on the noise and reported indiscriminate sale of liquor.
The Kuerks restobar, Dark Nest Bar and a carnival are located along Pelaez Street and is accessible via Osmeña Boulevard.
The GV Hotel is located along the intersection of Osmeña Boulevard and Sanciangko Street near the University of Cebu.
“The noise has become so unbearable that a group of our European guests have threatened to discontinue their stay at our hotel should we not find any solution.
In his letter, Gochangco said their European guests threatened to cancel their reservations if the noise continues.
“The hotel will incur irreversible losses to its reputation and finances if our guests (leave us),” he said.
Gochangco also cited City Ordinance No. 1413, which prohibits the sale of liquor in outlets located within a 100 meter radius from schools, churches, hospitals and public plazas.
CTO inspectors confirmed that noise from Kuerks and Dark Nest restobars could be heard even at the hotel’s 16th floor.
The Kuerks restobar is located in a portion of the Aznar parking lot along Osmena Boulevard.
It is also located within a 100 meter radius from the USC Law School. Kuerks was only issued a permit to operate as a restaurant under the name “Kuerks Restaurant Co. Ltd.”
As a procedure, Villarete said Kuerks will be issued a notice to show cause and explain why they should not be closed by the city legal office.  The management will have to submit their reply in 72 hours.
Villarete said the area used to be occupied by the Bakak restobar which closed down and was replaced by Kuerks.
She said a Kuerks representative entered into a compromise agreement with the CTO for them to assume unpaid tax obligations by the previous bar in exchange for a permit to operate a new bar.
But Kuerks’ operation is now under investigation following their violations of the city’s tax code.