The local government of Pasig City announced on Wednesday that it has already initiated nearly 100 legal processes preparatory to filing criminal cases against erring building owners in the city.

According to the Pasig City Public Information Office, while most instances see building owners comply with the local government to resolve the issues pertaining to their structures, there are still incidents where some owners of mostly commercial or industrial structures adamantly refuse to comply with the provisions of the National Building Code.

These are currently the subject of complaints before the Office of the City Prosecutor/Courts.

In an interview, a Pasig City former councilor Atty. Christian Sia clarified that laws are not meant to be enforced with an iron fist and stressed that the National Building Code of the Philippines was enacted into law in 1984.

“The law may be harsh but that’s the law,” Sia said.

He also explained that violations of the building code can include safety hazards, lack of permits, or non-compliance with building regulations and stressed that there are legal remedies that can be availed of for such violations as stipulated in the Building Code of the Philippines.

Sia pointed out that this is the first time in his 19 years of law practice that a Pasigueño 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. Sia also 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.