• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The Bacolod City Legal Office yesterday served two stall owners at the Manokan Country at the Reclamation Area in Bacolod City notices to pay and vacate, for failure to comply with the compromise agreement they entered into with the city government.
The notices were served at about 11 a.m. yesterday to Annalyn Penaflorida, the actual occupant of stall no. 17 (Carmen), which was awarded to Carmen Velez, and Rosenie Jaranilla, the actual occupant of stall no. 11 (Sibarose), which was awarded to Gregorio Dima-ala.
Based on the compromise agreement, both Penaflorida and Jaranilla agreed to pay P25,000 per month. But due to failure to pay in installment their rental arrearages for two months, Penaflorida was ordered to pay the amount of P687,680.95 and Jaranilla the amount of P660,543.20 within 15 days.
City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said the two stalls that were served notices have never paid their obligation although the owners met with them Friday.
“We will give them 15 days to vacate the premises. They reasoned out that their income was not doing well. (Carmen). By next month, the others who have only made partial payments will be considered in default for two months because they only paid a small amount,” Ting said.
Fourteen tenants of the Manokan Country in Bacolod City had earlier signed a compromise agreement with the city last year, allowing them to continue operating their stalls at the Manokan Country after the CLO ordered the closure of their establishments on October 3, 2022 for violation of City Ordinance No. 565.
However, they were allowed by the city to reopen their business after they executed a compromise agreement with the local government by making an initial payment, with the remaining amount to be paid on staggered basis until December 31, 2022, which was later extended for a period of two years.
Ting, earlier reminded the rest of the stall owners to continue to comply with the compromise agreement they entered into with the city so that they can continue doing business at the Manokan Country.
Mayor Alfredo Abelarde Benitez said “I think we have given them enough notice and warning. If they said they have difficulty in paying, maybe they are in the wrong business or location.”
The local government of Bacolod City established the Manokan Country in the 1980’s to provide a space where the various chicken inasal vendors along Cuadra-Gatuslao streets (across the Bacolod Public Plaza) could sell their wares.
Meanwhile, David Montoya, president of the Manokan Country Vendors Association, had said that many of them were not able to update their payments because their income was not very good during the last quarter of 2022.
Montoya said most of their members were not able to earn enough income from October to December so they were not able to comply the compromise agreement they entered with the city.*
