The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, approved on first reading a proposed ordinance granting amnesty to applicants of water and electric connections in the city for a period of six months.
Under the proposed ordinance, the provisions of Ordinance No. 15, series of 2016 and Ordinance No. 62, series of 2016 are adopted in so far as it is applicable for purposes of the amnesty for the present term.
The applicants for amnesty under the proposed measure shall be filed with the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) in case of electric connections and with the Baguio Water District (BWD) for water connections. Those qualified will pay the required fees with the concerned offices.
Further, the amnesty for electric and water connections does not mean condonation for the structures built in violation of the National Building code of the Philippines and other related laws. The CBAO and other concerned offices shall not be prevented in demolishing said structures based on other lawful grounds.
Among the requirements for the availment of the proposed amnesty for water and electric connections whichever are applicable include real property tax declaration under the applicant’s name, if not applicable, must secure waiver or authority from the registered lot owner; certificate of non-delinquency of tax and barangay certification attesting that the applicant is a bonafide resident of the barangay, that the structure is not within a road-right-of-way, that the lot or structure is not located within waterways and BWD water facilities or pipelines, that the lot or structure is not under high tension wires and that the lot or structure is not subject to demolition or had been previously demolished.
However, indigent applicants certified as such by their respective punong barangays and the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) shall be entitled to a 50 percent discount on the professional fee and labor being charged by the members and practitioners of the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. – Baguio-Benguet chapter.
Moreover, the electrical plans or format shall be uniform and shall be confirmed by the professional organization. In the case of water connections, a standard form shall be filled up at the BWD office.
In lieu of the certificate of final electrical inspection being used to those with occupancy permit, a certificate of electrical inspection shall be issued by the CBAO.
The ordinance pointed out that the amnesty shall not apply to structures built within forest reservations, watersheds, other properties identified as government or military reservations and those who squatted within titled private properties.
It specified that the proposed amnesty applies only to structures built on or before the effectivity of the proposed measure based on the CBAO’s inventory and barangay certification. By Dexter A. See