Who owns Kuerks?
I’m not feigning ignorance, rather I’m
trying to arrive at an answer based on media reports lifted from statements of people dragged into the controversy.
For the first time since his name was tagged as owner of Kuerks restobar, site of the Monday dawn (June 08) melee that implicated Councilor Gerardo Carillo in the head bashing of a minor, Richard Aznar, who is listed as the bar owner came out to say that he no longer owns the establishment. Aznar, who turned out to be a Talisay City councilor declared he already sold Kuerks to a Mrs. Flores.
I wonder why it took Councilor Aznar more than a week to make the clarification. He should have immediately issued an explanation to clarify things.
I will no longer raise the question of why he would choose to be in the business of a resto bar that sells liquor without a license, and operates within the 100-meter radius of a school and a parish church. The bar strip in Pelaez Street is not just close to many educational institutions but sits beside the Santo Rosario parish church and cheek-by-jowl with a ladies’ dormitory that bears the name of a Catholic saint.
Ever since the Kuerks controversy broke out, I heard comments from many people especially from netizens who say that with practically all the violations in the book, the bar cannot operate minus the protection of “political heavyweights.”
We often hear of stories by legitimate businessmen whose lives and businesses are turned upside down because they choose not to cooperate with rogue policemen. The hassles of doing business can be extreme when one deals with corrupt bureaucrats who will not sign documentation unless there is a padangog (bribe). I remember the late Inday Nita Cortes Daluz who exposed a corrupt fiscal whose “signature” style was to keep open his table drawer as a sign for hapless litigants to come across.
The gripes of private business have triggered many anti-corruption drives but the Kuerks case is something else. There is a perception that politicians are behind the bar business and whether or not their influence had kept City Hall at bay is an intriguing angle.
Media practitioners monitored events last Tuesday when Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (Probe) team served the closure order against Kuerks.
As we all know, Probe Division Chief Raquel Arce personally went to padlock the bar on the basis of its violation of the City Tax, Liquor and Anti-Noise Ordinances. However, the bar personnel refused to cooperate because according to them, the spot is no longer Kuerks but an extension of Knock Box, another bar close to Kuerks.
Upon hearing their statements, Ma’am Arce muttered, “pagka-bright sa tag-iya” (How intelligent the owner is). Unimpressed by the new tack, she posted the closure sign in the railings that fenced off the establishment. Minutes later, I heard dyLA news director Jhunnex Napallacan commenting that the episode merely sealed the impression that a lawyer owns the restobar, kay minaro kaayo (very clever) ang style.
I hope Mayor Michael Rama will not allow these maro types to run rings around his administration because they have been violating and abusing the law for too long.
Sobra na, tama na, kandadohi nang tanang susamang bar, Mayor Rama.
* * *
May I update readers about what happened to the complaint aired by Janez “Jay” Zozobrado who bought a Ford Focus Titanium from Ford Cebu/Ford Group Philippines. I discussed this issue in a previous column (Pricey Car Woes, CDN, June 13, 2013) because the public needs to know.
Jay’s complaint about the brand new car that he bought sometime in April this year for P1.2 million has something to do with the “unusual sound or knocking” when the car passed uneven roads; the “shuddering sound or scratchy noise from the engine,” that happens every time the engine automatically changes gears and the “alarmingly hot hood.”
The honeymoon with the brand new and pricey Ford Focus Titanium turned into a nightmare, so Jay returned the car to Ford Cebu in April 25. But Ford Cebu set aside Jay’s complaint saying that the issues, which in his estimation are defects, are “inherent” in the car’s design.
The buyer is poised to file a case in court but in the meantime, he has lodged his problem before the Department of Trade and Industry. The DTI is a champion of consumer welfare and has an Undersecretary for Business Regulation and Consumer Protection.
I heard DTI Provincial Director Nelia Navarro reads this corner and had known the issues involved when her office convened a meeting between Jay and Ford representatives early this month. The meeting was aimed at reaching an amicable settlement.
However, nothing was achieved because Ford Group Philippines merely sent Manila-based lawyers who offered no solutions. Apparently, the lawyers merely attended the meeting in compliance with summons from DTI and had no intention of resolving the issue during that particular meeting.
Jay is carefully studying his options because if he decides to file a case in court, it will take years to secure a judgement. This will be costly in terms of money and time taken from work. The days will be filled with anxiety and stress such that an ordinary human being would be forced to take the line of least resistance.
I hope he will not be worn out by the strategy that is aimed to test his patience and push his endurance to the limits because that is how this game will be played in the long run.