BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong urged the members of the City Council to enact the appropriate legislative measure authorizing law enforcers and deputized city government personnel, barangay officials and volunteers, to issue citation tickets to all violators of existing ordinances to instil discipline among residents and tourists alike to adhere to the existing laws, rules and regulations in the city.
The city chief executive claimed that based on his experience during the inspections he conducted in the different parts of the city where blatant violations on existing laws were uncovered, the issuance of notices of violation to the identified violators can easily be ignored and eventually set aside and it is best that those implementing ordinances should already be armed with the prescribed citation tickets for them to immediately issue to the identified violators without further asking questions.
He pointed out it is still best for the city government to immediately start issuing the prescribed citation tickets to violators of ordinances and other related laws so that these violators will be constrained to pay the mandated fines with the City Treasurer’s Office and help generate added resources for the city government rather than be contented with issuing notices of violation that will simply be set aside by the violators allowing them to continue blatantly violating local and national laws.
While his administration will be compassionate about the things happening in the city, he underscored it is high time to instil into the minds of the people they have to suffer the consequences of their violations of existing ordinances, especially related to the preservation and protection of the city’s environment, as a lesson not to repeat similar offenses because the city government means business in the enforcements of existing ordinances to the fullest.
He requested the City Council, in coordination with the City Legal Office, to study the design and contents of the citation ticket to be issued to violators so that the same could be immediately implemented to help people reform and obey existing laws, rules and regulations, especially in the preservation and the protection of the environment.
According to him, the citation tickets that will be issued by the city government will be appropriately monitored to ensure those issuing the same will be responsible in reporting their issuances for cross checking among other modes of monitoring to prevent the issuance from being abused by those authorized to issue such kind of tickets or accountable forms of the city government.
Member of the City Council agreed to study the proposal of the city mayor and sued for time to study the same so that the citation ticket will be crafted pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations and to ascertain the proper way of monitoring the same among those who will be authorized to issue it.
The citation ticket for violators of environmental laws will probably be similar to the citation ticket being issued by law enforcers to violators of traffic rules and regulations that are contained in existing ordinances crafted by the City Council to ensure compliance among residents and tourists.
By Dexter A. See
