Panglao, Bohol Mayor Boy Arcay has ordered the closure of one of the popular resorts on his island, Villa Tomasa Q (formerly Alona Kew White Beach Resort), due to an alleged lack of business permit.
The closure came more than 10 days after the Business Permit Licensing Office of Panglao sent a notice to the new management of Villa Tomasa to renew their business permit for 2024. The new management has reportedly failed to comply.
“Based on the foregoing factual setting, you cannot anymore blame us for not giving you the right to due process, if the LGU Panglao through the undersigned Chief Executive will exercise its police power to issue a closure order to your establishment for operating a hotel and resort without a business permit,” the order reads.
The closure order was implemented Tuesday afternoon. Immediately, the original owners of the property, spouses Eteria Evelyn Naval-Flores and Magileo Wilfredo Flores, took over the property.
The issue involving the property stems from the alleged failure of the lessees, identified as the Guardos of Cebu City, to fulfill their obligation to pay a monthly rental in the amount of P10 million.
Documents released by the Flores family showed that the contract of lease with option to purchase was signed on January 2023. The rental arrears, however, allegedly ballooned to P63.9 million as of April 2024.
BusinessNewsAsia has reached out to the Guardos for comments. We will update this story once they issue a statement.
Despite the breach of contract, the lessors allegedly held off on exercising their rights and instead held several meetings with the lessees. During these meetings, the lessees proposed to restructure their agreement with the lessors.
The terms of their proposal, however, were unacceptable to the lessors.
On March 27, 2024, the lessors sent their third letter formally rejecting the lessee’s counter-proposal and demanding for them to pay their balance and vacate the premises.
“Rather than honoring the contract, the lessees refused to vacate and surrender the premises. Worse, they had stopped paying the lessors altogether,” the legal documents show.