The City Council, during Last Monday’s regular session, approved on third and final reading a proposed ordinance that seeks to amend pertinent provisions of Ordinance No. 49, series of 2019 which earlier prohibited and regulated the use of mobile devices and other distractive devices and items while walking and crossing the streets and sidewalks in the city.
The amended prohibitions in the earlier ordinance were amended to include using a mobile devices by texting or reading text while crossing a pedestrian crossing or the street, or while traversing a sidewalk which causes delay in the mobility of other pedestrians; reading any material while crossing a pedestrian crossing, walk on sidewalks or the street and as an exemption, a person who is in a stationary position and goes to the side of the sidewalk and does not obstruct the flow of people shall not be considered a violator of the measure.
Further, the penalties and fines of violators of the ordinance were also amended, particularly the first offense that warrants the reprimand of the person in charge or officer on duty and second offense that warrants 10 days of community service.
The amendatory ordinance deleted Section 8 of Ordinance No. 49, series of 2019, on the fees collected from the violations of the said ordinance that shall form part of the special education fund for purposes such as allotted as the same is no longer needed since the penalties are now in the form of community service.
The ordinance tasked the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) to prepare the necessary signages to be posed in strategic locations such as parks, bus stations, among others so that tourists and residents alike will be informed of the pertinent provisions of the anti-destructed ordinance.
Moreover, the Public Information Office under the Offices of the City Mayor and the Sangguniang Panlungsod shall cause the widest distribution of the ordinance through all forms of media.
The ordinance claimed that certain instances must be considered to make the measure truly reflective of the policy of the city government to provide undistracted flow of pedestrians in the streets and sidewalks of the city, thus, the enactment of the amendatory ordinance.
Ordinance No. 49, series of 2019 otherwise known as the anti-distracted walking ordinance was enacted on June 24, 2019 and was finally approved by former City mayor Mauricio G. Domogan on June 28, 2019.
However, since its approval and implementation, it has gained scrutiny and negative reactions from the residents as certain phone calls need immediate response and at times necessitate corresponding actions.
The council conducted a public consultation on February 17, 2023 and the suggestions from the public were gathered, including comments from the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Facebook page, that served as a basis in the approval of the earlier proposed amendments to the ordinance.
