Group told to stop collecting fees

The Cebu City Council yesterday asked a private group, Paglaum Basureros 20/20 Inc., to stop collecting a P750 fee for seminars they conduct in the guise of helping business permit applicants comply with the environment sustainability action plan requirement.

Councilor Nida Cabrera said the fee is not just excessive but is also unnecessary.

The councilor said in a privilege speech in yesterday’s City Council session that several business permit applicants have come to her office to complain of the fees collected by Paglaum Basureros.

Micro enterprise operators have complained that the fee is not affordable.

“Not a single centavo goes to the city coffers from the registration fees charged to the participants,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera told the City Council that Paglaum Basureros is operating with the permission of the Office of the Mayor even if the group is not registered with the City Hall’s Private Sector Monitoring Board.

Not registered

Cabrera added that she checked with the Securities and Exchange Commission and found out that the group is not even registered.

“This is a serious matter which needs immediate attention,” Councilor Noel Wenceslao said in response to Cabrera’s privilege speech.

Councilors agreed to hold an executive session on October 23 with officials of the Paglaum Basureros Inc. But Councilor Sisinio Andales said this puts the City Council in a quandary as they do not even know who the officers of the group are?

“It seems that we are in a quandary,” Andales said.

Cabrera told the council to address the executive session’s invitation to a certain Francis Paragas who is the group’s permittee.

“They should be asked to return the money which they collected if the collection is unauthorized,” Andales added.

City Ordinance 2243 or the Sustainable Development Ordinance of the City of Cebu authored by councilor Nestor Archival requires businesses to come up with an environment sustainability action plan as a requisite for their business permit application.

“The enforcement (of the ordinance), however, left business establishments confused and anxious about the fate of their businesses. Many are asking why they still need to pay P750 in favor of Paglaum Basureros?” said Cabrera in her speech. One complainant, Cabrera said, reported to her office that 2,758 business permit applicant attended one seminar of Paglaum Basureros. At P750 each, that alone earned the group over P2 million, Cabrera added.

Cabrera said that in 2012, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) organized a similar seminar but they did not charge any fees.

Cabrera also disclosed in her privilege speech that she was informed by an official of Cebu Holdings Inc. that Paglaum Basureros is conducting seminars on the “No Plastic Saturday Ordinance.”

An upcoming seminar will be held for tenants of Ayala Mall. They have completed the seminar for SM Mall tenants, Cabrera told the City Council.

The City Council is still in the process of conducting public consultations for the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the plastics ordinance. /Doris C. Bongac, Chief of Reporters