MANILA – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has called for the suspension of a food park in Las Piñas City, which allegedly serves only to Chinese customers, for lack of necessary permits.
In a statement, the DTI said Trade secretary Ramon Lopez made a surprise inspection of China Food City on May 9 and found that the establishment – comprised of 30 food stalls – is lacking the necessary business permits and tax receipts for all the stalls inside the food park.
Lopez immediately summoned Las Piñas Business Permits and Licensing Office Chief Wilfredo Gaerlan to attend to all the deficiencies and to issue a Suspension of Operations pending the correction of the necessary permits, according to the Trade department.
“During his visit, the Secretary found no customer discrimination happening in the area since there were Filipino customers,” the DTI said.
Lopez, however, asked the Las Piñas government to evaluate if the business permit of the food hub applies to all the 30 food stalls in the complex.
The license and permit of a business under MFD Cuisine were the only ones visible and available in the area, according to the DTI.
With this the Trade chief questioned that if all the stalls are under one ownership and registration, there must also be a common receipt.
Lopez observed that there were different receipts per stall and they were in Chinese characters, which meant they didn’t have the proper individual business permits and official receipts from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the DTI said.
The Trade chief also didn’t see proper sanitation permits on display, it added.
“There was also a lack of proper waste disposal and waste treatment facility since food wastes went directly to the canals and into the adjacent creek,” the DTI said.
“The DTI team likewise saw about five foreign-looking personnel running through the backdoor as they were arriving, which suggested that they didn’t have the proper workers’ permits,” it said.
Lopez immediately relayed the findings to the Secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for proper action, according to the DTI. (GMA News)
