BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The city government is considering requiring captains in key barangays in this city to submit a comprehensive inventory of existing boardinghouses in their respective areas.
Such a plan will help the city’s Investment Services, Business Permit and Licensing Division, the Boarding House Commission (BHC), and the Business Permit and Licensing Division (BPLD) to create a database of boarding houses in the seven districts of Iloilo City.
“I think the primary source of information (on the existing boarding houses) is the barangay itself. The barangays should be required to submit an updated inventory of all boardinghouses in their jurisdiction,” said Velma Lao, head of BPLD, during a press conference.
There are about 18,987 boardinghouses spread across the seven districts, the BPLD reported.
Of the number, some 15,700 boardinghouses have already renewed their business permits. The remaining more than 3,000 unregistered boardinghouses may either have ongoing applications; or are still processing for the completion of their requirements, among others.
Lao said their office received about 150 applications for renewal of boardinghouse permits following the crackdown on unregistered boardinghouses in the districts of La Paz, Jaro and Mandurriao following the February 18 fire that claimed two lives of renters in Barangay San Nicolas, La Paz.
Personnel from the Investment Services, Business Permit, and Licensing Division and the BHC had started the crackdown on illegal boardinghouses last week.
The boardinghouse, where the two boarders were burned to death during the fire, owned by Rocky Gordon also lacked permits, according to the BPLD.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) identified the fatalities as Lynrose Sobretodo, a 26-year-old call center agent, and third-year year Engineering student Renz Aguilar from Concepcion, Iloilo.
Fire investigators said victims were trapped on the third floor of their boardinghouse. Authorities believed the two were asleep in their respective rooms when the fire broke out. The fire exit of the boardinghouse was defective.
As of this writing, about 30 boardinghouses were ordered to cease operations in La Paz, seven in Mandurriao and three in Jaro.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas earlier ordered the closure of boardinghouses operating without permits to prevent similar incidents from happening.
“We are very serious in ensuring the well-being of our boarders. Closure orders will be issued on all businesses without permits,” said Treñas
Meanwhile, the closure orders have sparked mixed reactions from transients and boardinghouse owners. The BHC required them to obtain permits to operate legally. The affected transients were given at least three days to transfer to boardinghouses that had valid permits.
Lao said their office is also coordinating with the affected transients following the closure of their boardinghouses. However, she advised the boardinghouse owners to secure the necessary permits so they could reopen their businesses.
Regulation Ordinance No. 00-01, known as an Ordinance Regulating the Operation of Boarding Houses in the city, prohibits boardinghouses from operating without permits.
Section 2 of the ordinance states that “no person shall own, keep, maintain, operate, or conduct any house or place for accommodation of boarders or bed spacers for compensation or rent without first having obtained a mayor’s permit, sanitary, fire safety inspections permit and paying the required fees.”/PN
