Despite the hype to charge officials for the “illegal” van-for-hire terminal operation in Barangay Kamagayan in 2023, no investigation was conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation as Cebu City Hall failed to provide the necessary documents.
The City-owned lot that used to be the v-hire terminal is now used to house a food strip, which was allowed by the City and under the same arrangement as the “illegal” v-hire terminal.
NBI 7 Director Rennan Oliva said on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, that the investigation had been delayed because of the missing evidence.
“We have asked for documents to support their claims so we can proceed, but unfortunately, none have been provided,” Oliva said.
“As a result, we are unable to start the formal investigation due to the lack of a basis,” Oliva added.
NBI had asked the City to submit certified true copies of all documents relative to the permits and operation of the v-hire terminal in Kamagayan and a list of all v-hire operators, including their names and addresses, who availed of the terminal facility.
Despite this request, Oliva said no documents have been submitted to their office.
The southbound v-hire terminal was closed by the City Government on April 28, 2023, giving only the drivers and vendors 30 minutes to vacate the terminal, saying the City cannot give an extension to an operation that is considered “illegal.”
The closure had also displaced around 1,800 passengers going to and from the southern parts of Cebu.
Elected Mayor Michael Rama, after the terminal was closed, earlier announced plans to tap the NBI to identify the people behind the “unauthorized” terminal operation and determine where the estimated P60 million in supposed city revenue went.
Based on the previous SunStar Cebu reports, after the closure, City Administrator Collin Rosell, who is currently serving his preventive suspension with Rama, also said the City will look into the P200 terminal fee that drivers had to pay for the use of the property.
In the said report, Rosell said the terminal operation could have earned millions from the fees of the drivers.
There were around 100 trips in the van terminal every day, and drivers paid P200 each time they left the terminal.
In 2017 alone, the City Government earned P1.2 million from the v-hire terminal for its first year of operations.
Sunstar Cebu reached out to former City Legal Officer Carlo Vincent Gimena, but he declined to comment on the case, saying he is no longer the CLO head.
SunStar Cebu also tried to reach Rosell, but calls and texts remain unanswered as of press time.
The current CLO head had not answered SunStar Cebu’s calls as well.
After a week the terminal was closed, the lot was used as a food strip tagged as the Chibugan sa Kamagayan, where vendors pay P200 daily “for payment of electrical bills, personnel honorarium and beautification purposes of the food strip.”
In earlier SunStar Cebu reports, Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA) president Maria Pino said the P200 is on top of the market and rental fees that vendors pay daily to personnel of the City Treasurer’s Office and the market administration.
Pino said personnel from the market administration collect a daily cash ticket that varies from as low as P30 to as high as P60, depending on the size of the stall. The money is then remitted to the city treasurer, she said.
In previous reports, Rosell said the City would use the 7,000-square-meter lot to construct a medium- to high-rise building as a socialized housing project for City Hall employees. /JBB
