BAGUIO CITY – Plans are afoot to replace the condemned Old Magsaysay Building at the City Market before anything disastrous happens, City Building Officer Nazita Banez said on Tuesday.
Banez said the programs of work for the demolition of the building and the construction of a new three-story edifice prepared by the City Building and Architecture Office (CBAO) have been submitted to the Local Finance Committee (LFC) headed by City Budget Officer Leticia Clemente for immediate funding.
The said plans will also form part of the bases for the notices to vacate that will be issued to the tenants later.
Banez said the CBAO declared the building “ruinous, hazardous and unfit for occupancy” while the Baguio Fire Department pronounced its fire hazard state reiterating its findings made as early as 2010.
“We are proposing for its demolition as soon as possible because of its status and at the same time we are praying that nothing untoward will happen to the building and to the occupants whom we are advising to begin voluntary relocation pending the issuance of the notices to vacate,” Banez said.
The findings were done in line with Mayor Mauricio Domogan’s earlier order for the reevaluation of the more than 50-year old building to assess its structural and fire safety conditions.
The directive was also meant to determine whether the earlier agreement for the tenants to adopt remedial measures to make the building compliant with the structural and fire safety requirements despite its decrepit state is still applicable in the light of the worsening condition of the building.
In 2010, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) declared the building as fire hazard due to violations of the National Building Code and fire safety law.
The BFP and the Baguio City Market Authority even recommended the closure of the edifice due to the gravity of the defects found but the city government agreed to allow the tenants to continue operating on condition that they will institute remedial measures to make it safe for the occupants and their clientele.
Among the defects noted then by the BFP were blocked fire exits, dangling electrical wires and the tenants’ practice of allowing persons to sleep over in offices and cook meals in violation of existing ordinances.
Banez said the proposed new building would cost P73 million and would be implemented as soon as the budget has been worked out.
City treasurer Alex Cabarrubias said there are around 20 occupants renting spaces within the building who are paying meager rental fees.** Aileen P. Refuerzo
