By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Laoag
City—Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas ordered the
closure of a business establishment in the city for falsification of public
documents. The city government also revoked its license to operate business.
Ms. Fariñas’ order was based
on a recommendation by the city police, headed by officer-in-charge P/Supt.
Jeffrey T. Gorospe, which investigated the establishment.
The neophyte mayor also said
she has signed an affidavit for a case filed against the internet café owner,
who allegedly printed falsified identification cards for tricycle drivers in
the city.
Ms. Fariñas disclosed that
the business owner, accompanied by his mother personally appealed to her not to
pursue a case against them but the mayor rejected this.
She stressed that is not a
personal issue between the owner and her but an issue that concerns the city
government.
Ms. Fariñas emphasized that
the falsified IDs and her signature that appeared there made it appear that it
was the city government which released them, hence it was the city government
that was negatively affected by it.
Tricycle drivers who received
falsified IDs also personally went to the mayor’s office but since the mayor
was then unavailable, they met city administrator Cipriano Hilarion “Perry”
Martinez III, instead.
In a related front, Mr.
Gorospe related that his team personally investigated the said internet café
and they discovered their illegal activity.
Mr. Gorospe also learned that
the establishment had no valid business permit and this served as the main
reason for its immediate closure.
Mr. Gorospe added that they
have also referred the matter to the City Fiscal’s Office while one set of
computer for the establishment’s printing is in their custody.
Meanwhile, Ms. Fariñas said
she disappointed with this issue as she instructed the city government’s
information technology department to put more safety features to city
government documents so these would not be falsified again.
The city government has since
recalled all tricycle driver IDs. They plan to issue ID cards with more
security features to avoid another falsification.
City treasury office records
show that the local government released 1099 ID cards to tricycle drivers.
There are still some tricycle drivers who do not have a valid ID.
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