CLO closes 15 stalls at Manokan Country

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The Bacolod City Legal Office Team on Monday shuttered 15 stalls at the Manokan Country here.

Manokan Country is a row of stalls selling the popular Bacolod chicken inasal and other grilled food located at the Reclamation Area which has become a landmark of this city.

Rey Demisana, Team Leader of the  City Legal Office Enforcement Unit, said the 15 stalls were closed for violating Section 25, Article 20 of City Ordinance No. 565 or the Bacolod City Revenue Code Series of 2011.

Demisana said the CLO was forced to implement the closure because of the failure of the tenants to settle their accounts with the city government.

The unsettled accounts of the 18 stalls amounted to P8.6 million.

He said they were given until September 30, 2022 to pay their arrears.

He further said the tenants also failed to come up with a compromise agreement through the Office of the City Treasurer Office.

Based on CLO records, 18 stall owners were served with closure notices but only three settled their accounts with the city treasurer’s office.

Earlier, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez said Manokan Country stall owners who were served closure notices and cannot settle their accounts until September 30, 2022 will be closed.

There will be no more extensions, the mayor has said.

David Montoya, president of Manokan Country Vendors Association (MCVA), earlier sought the assistance of City Councilor Celia Flor, Sanggunian Panlungsod Committee on Markets chairperson, to give them until December 2022 so they will have enough time to settle their accounts.

“We are sincere in our appeal and most of our members have already settled their accounts. I’m only asking that the city will give us until December to pay the 20 percent of our arrears,” he said.

Flor has advised the concerned stall owners to have a compromise agreement in settling their arrears with the City Treasurer’s Office.