Status quo for Maharlika lessees until December bared

The city government will observe a status quo for all the lessees in the different portions of the Maharlika Livelihood Center until the end of the year to give them a chance to do business during the Yuletide season.

City Budget Officer Leticia O. Clemente, who is also the chairperson of the Maharlika Livelihood Center Transition Committee, said that the decision to observe a status quo was reached after a series of consultations with the concerned stallholders and their sub-lessees that had been undertaken over the past several months since the facility was turned over to the city by the State-owned Human Settlements Development Corporation.

However, she claimed that starting next year, the city government will be gradually enforcing its policies to govern the operation of the center, one of which is that there will be no sub-leasing of stalls for purposes of transparency.

According to her, the no sub-leasing policy is just one of the regulations that will be strictly imposed by the city starting next year and the original lessees and their sub-lessees have to settle their differences so that future lessors of stalls from the city government will be the actual occupants and users.

She pointed out that the city government had already given much consideration to the lessees and their sub-lessees for a status quo since the facility was turned over to the city last May 2025 and that the extension up to the end of the year will be the last so that the city can implement its policies, programs and projects to further improve the center purposely to serve as an economic hub for local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Clemente asserted that the city government is also working on the initial repair works of the different parts of the center, particularly the re-painting, the improvement of the façade, the operationalization of the escalators, among other minor works, as part of the city’s commitment to the stallholders to improve the current state of the 50-year-old structure.

The city budget officer disclosed that the proposed structural integrity test had also been undertaken to ascertain the ability of the building to handle a much bigger load pursuant to plans of adding more floors and that the overall results are being awaited to guide city officials on the appropriate steps to maximize the potentials of the facility to be one of the city’s economic enterprises. – Dexter A. See