The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, approved on first reading the proposed consolidated anti-dengue ordinance of the city.
Under the proposed measure authored by Councilor Betty Lourdes F. Tabanda, all residents are required to participate in the fight against dengue.
Among the objectives of the proposal include the consolidation and unification of all legislations to continually and substantially reduce and mitigate the occurrence of dengue cases in the city through the integrated vector management; reduction of morbidity and mortality rate of dengue to a level where it will no longer be a public health problem and prevention and control of transmission of dengue and other diseases from the mosquito vector to man.
The ordinance stipulated that there are multiple vector control measures directed against Aedes mosquitoes that include search and destroy of mosquito breeding sites; larvicide, biological or chemical, space spraying, thermal and cold fogging residual spraying and outdoor targeted residual spraying; use of school-based long-lasting insecticide treated screens or curtains and self-protection measures.
The ordinance created the Baguio city Anti-Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya Committee which will be composed of the City mayor as chairperson and the City Health Officer as action officer. The members of the committee are the chairperson of the city council committee on health and sanitation, ecology and environmental protection; president of the Association of barangay Councils; the City Building Official; the City Engineer; the City Environment and Parks management Officer; the City General Services officer; the City Legal Officer; the City Social Welfare and Development Officer; the City Public Information Officer; the City Treasurer; the Director of the Baguio city Police Office; the Special Services Division of the City Mayor’s Office as secretariat; the City Public Order and Safety Division and the City Disaster risk Reduction and Management Office.
Members from the national government offices are those from the regional offices of the Department of health, Department of Education – City Schools Division; Department of the Interior and Local government – Baguio field office; Department of Public works and Highways – Baguio City District Engineering Office and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
The prohibited acts under the ordinance are storing water in containers that are not tightly or properly covered; keeping and sorting water filled vases and manner of using ornamental plants with pot saucer and exiled plants for a longer period of time; keeping or having discarded tires; keeping or having artificial or man-made containers, including natural containers that serve as breeding sites of mosquitoes and conducting chemical control methods without clearance from the health department or City Health Services office.
Any person, head/owner/manager/administrator/officer-in-charge of households, establishments, and schools who violate the pertinent provisions of the measure shall be penalized by rendering community service for three days at the barangay where the violation was made for the first offense; a fine of P1,000 and conduct of community service for three days at the barangay where the violation was made for the second offense and a fine of P3,000 and/or imprisonment of two days at the discretion of the court and revocation of business permit of the violator is an earring establishment for the third and succeeding offenses.
