Rotarians cry injustice after padlocking of community center

The padlocking of the Rotary Community Center along Roces Avenue in Quezon City has triggered a backlash from Rotarians, who say the closure unfairly penalized decades of volunteer service and community work while a lease dispute remains under judicial review.

On Friday, the Quezon City government sealed the Rotary Center in Barangay Paligsahan, citing the alleged absence of a business permit. The facility was built in 1996 on city-owned land and has operated for nearly three decades under a symbolic “one-peso-per-year” lease authorized by the Quezon City Council.

Rotary Center Foundation Inc. (RCFI) said it applied for renewal of the lease in 2019, ahead of its expiration in 2020. The City Council later passed a resolution authorizing the city mayor to renew the lease for another 25 years, or until 2045, but the renewal was never executed.

“Rotary is not fighting anyone,” an RCFI representative said. “For more than twenty years, we have worked with many Quezon City mayors, and we have helped many people, without taking sides and without asking for anything in return.”

Instead of dialogue, RCFI said a cease-and-desist order was issued, citing the lack of permits and the absence of a renewed lease — an action the foundation said could not be completed without executive approval.

With repeated requests for talks left unanswered, RCFI elevated the issue to the Court of Appeals to seek clarification on whether a city mayor may decline to implement a resolution duly passed by the City Council.

Despite the matter being under judicial review, Rotarians said the enforcement proceeded.

About 50 city personnel padlocked the building and installed metal barriers. RCFI said staff and maintenance workers inside were initially prevented from leaving, causing distress among those present.

The operation was led by City Legal Department official Atty. Carlo Lopez Austria, whom RCFI said asserted he was a person in authority who could order arrests.

“For the volunteers inside, it was not just a closure — it was painful and disheartening,” RCFI said. “People who have given decades of unpaid service to the city were made to feel like criminals.”

Rotarians stressed that the closure affects not only their members but also ordinary citizens who rely on Rotary-led programs, including families, patients, students, scholars, and disaster survivors — especially during the holiday season when outreach and relief activities are usually intensified.

“This center was never about profit or politics,” the foundation said. “Rotary has no enemies. Across many administrations, we have served only one constituency — the people of Quezon City.”

A prominent RCFI member told the DAILY TRIBUNE that the dispute stemmed from the mayor’s refusal to renew the lease.

“The mayor no longer wants to renew the lease. She wants to charge a high rent and then give the building, which Rotary worked hard to establish, to someone else. She wanted a P400,000 monthly rental. We have already been there for 25 years, so the building reverts to the Quezon City government, but it was supposed to be subject to renewal,” the source said.

RCFI said it remains committed to a peaceful and lawful resolution and expressed hope that the Quezon City government will choose dialogue over division.

“Our doors may be padlocked,” one RCFI member said, “but our commitment to serve the people of Quezon City remains unshaken.”

The Quezon City Council later issued a statement disputing RCFI’s claims, saying its resolution merely authorized — but did not compel — the mayor to renew the lease, and affirming its support for the city’s position on the use of public property.