Sunday, June 15, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Ernie Olson Jr.
BAGUIO CITY -- Members of Porta Vaga Tenants Association (PVTA) will start their protest on Sunday against the increase in rent imposed by administrators of a Catholic-owned building in this city.
Shop owners are forced to raise their rentals by as much as 168 percent since April. They said they are left with no choice but to either close their shops or transfer elsewhere.
PVTA members described the rent increase as "indiscriminate and unfair."
"We will stage a 'shop window strike' to protest against the indiscriminate and unfair rent increase imposed upon us by the Church-led mall administration amid the surging prices of basic commodities, transportation, fuel and other services," one of the renters said.
They said they would post billboard messages on their shop windows between 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon daily, starting Sunday.
The shop window strike will reportedly last until the administration of Porta Vaga will listen to the vendors' grievances.
Shop owners said the Porta Vaga building, which is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baguio, has recently increased rentals on shops since April despite the mounting cost of living and without any consultation with tenants.
They also appeal for better maintenance works, auxiliary services, and adequate advertising and marketing exposure from the building administration because of alleged mismanagement.
"They (administrators) justified the increase by citing fund depletion for the Diocese's missionary work. However, they should also consider improving their maintenance and other services," the renters said.
They added: "We doubt if they also considered the plight of the hundreds of employees working there, who may lose their jobs, if tenants close shop and are forced to lay them off. It's as if we are not dealing with Catholic priests, but greedy businessmen."
According to them, the Church-owned mall has had several management changes since 2005. But with the latest change in administration, the tenants said they have found themselves in dire straits.
"However, it seems the new administration does not know what it is doing and charging us, depending on our location within the building and accessibility to elevators and entrances, instead of size of space occupied, like in other buildings. They even call this standardization," they pointed out.
Tenants meanwhile hope to enlighten Fr. Loreto Abela Jr., Porta Vaga Commercial Building chief executive officer, and his administrative staff regarding their plight.
They plan to hold a "mass of enlightenment" sometime next week in their hope of "opening the eyes and hearts" of the building's administration to their plight. (Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
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