THE Camarines Sur provincial board and the Naga City council are at loggerheads over the use of Plaza Rizal that brought the animosity between the two local government units (LGUs) to new heights.

The Plaza Rizal, located at the heart of Naga City, has been the subject of legal battle between the two LGUs over the years of which the ownership issue is still pending in court.

In an unprecedented move, the city council on Jan. 2 has passed a resolution condemning the provincial government of Camarines Sur over its decision to rent out spaces to transient vendors.

Viewing the provincial government’s move of renting out the spaces at Plaza Rizal as acts of dishonor and disgrace to the national hero and violation of a city ordinance, the city council has called on the provincial board and provincial government of Camarines Sur to “stop the desecration of the Rizal monument.”

In response, the provincial board disagreed with the city council saying that the provincial government has maintained the center portion of the Plaza Rizal where the monument of the national hero is located free from any temporary structures.

The provincial board declared that it fully supported the provincial government’s social service program of renting out spaces to small-scale entrepreneurs to help them in their livelihood.

Turning the tables around, the provincial board reminded the city council that the city government was the one with permanent commercial structures for rent at the Plaza Quezon.

In a resolution approved on Jan. 17, the provincial board said that the city government was “just jealous and indignant because their comparably bigger commercial stalls (in Plaza Quezon) are not patronized by sensible traders of Naga City.”

Furthermore, the provincial board advised the city council to focus its attention to its problem within its jurisdiction like the spate of killings and other crimes happening in the city.