On Parañaque City vs. UBFHAI

http://news.inq7.net/metro/index.php?index=1&story_id=48722

Gate issue message sent via mail box
First posted 00:26am (Mla time) Sept 01, 2005
By Jocelyn R. Uy
Inquirer News Service

THE PARAÑAQUE City government has sent letters to the more than 10,000 residents of BF Homes to explain the "real story" behind the BF gates controversy.

Mayor Florencio Bernabe said in his letter that residents and business operators in the subdivision alleged the United BF Homeowners Association Inc. (UBFHAI) collected excessive fees and charges from them.

The association reportedly charged non-residents P1,500 for gate stickers, and P800-P1,000 for residents. Residents also claimed they were charged P30-P300 for food or furniture deliveries, Nelson Lacambra, the mayor's spokesperson, told the Inquirer yesterday. Security guards were also abusive and coercive, residents reported.

The mayor said the opening of the main gates was done to ensure "your families' and homes' safety and protection while shielding you from these undeserved forms of harassment and coercion."

The Parañaque City Council passed City Ordinance Nos. 97-08 and 00-15 that reclassified both Aguirre and El Grande Avenues as commercial roads for public use and Resolution No. 99-53 for the opening to the public of subdivision roads linked to major thoroughfares.

The UBFHAI closed Elizalde Avenue, which would also have been opened, in "apparent retaliation."

But UBFHAI president Celson Reyes said the association barred motorists from using Elizalde Avenue for security reasons. As for the fees they collected, he said the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board allowed them to do so as the money was used for maintenance purposes.