By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
PASIG CITY — A former City Councilor of Pasig on Tuesday (Sept. 24) clarified that laws are not meant to be enforced with an iron fist.
In an interview with the PaMaMariSan-Rizal Press Corps, Atty. Ian Sia said that the National Building Code of the Philippines was enacted into law in 1984.
“Dura lex sed lex (The law may be harsh but that’s the law),” Atty. Sia stressed.
He explained that violations of the Building Code can be on the safety of the building or structure without safety features or practice, stoppage or lack of building permit or occupancy permit.
However, he said, there are legal remedies that can be availed of for such violations as stipulated in the Building Code of the Philippines.
Atty. Sia pointed out that this is the first time in his 19 years of law practice that a Pasigueno was criminally charged for alleged lack of occupancy permit for the structure which has the building permit.
He assuaged the fears of Pasiguenos who have problems in their building or occupancy permit to just comply with the requirements of the law and there is nothing to worry about.
In his legal opinion, Atty. Sia said that nobody can be jailed for the first offense of violation of the Building Code which only imposes a fine of P5,000, P10,000 and P15,000 for the first, second and third offense, respectively.
Atty. Sia also expounded that the “sub judice” rule applies to all lawyers not to discuss the merits of a pending case in court so that the judge will not be affected by public opinion.
“The law applies to all or none at all,” Atty. Sia quoted former National Bureau of Investigation Director Alfredo S. Lim as saying.
It was a common knowledge in Pasig that a City Councilor was able to erect a five-storey structure without first securing the necessary building permit.
Atty. Sia propounded that a building or an structure can be constructed while the building permit is pending with the proper Building Office of the concerned local government unit.
