BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on second reading and for publication a proposed ordinance providing for the prevention and control measures to mitigate the increase in dengue fever in the city and appropriating funds for the implementation of the said interventions.
The ordinance authored by Vice Mayor Edison R. Bilog and Councilors Peter Fianza and Roberto Ortega stated the passage of the measure will help reduce the occurrence of dengue in the city through prevention and control measures.
Under the proposed ordinance, the prevention and control measures to rid vector breeding grounds, include covering all water containers such as drums, pails, and water gallons at all times; properly collect, store, dispose, or recycle, if possible, all unused tin cans, jars, bottles, pots and the like; check and drain water in all plant vases and pots. open bamboo poles, coconut shells, other natural or artificial containers that may accumulate water as these are potential breeding places of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes; properly dispose broken appliances and other bulky materials that may accumulate rain water, puncture, cut or else properly dispose all old or discarded tires; maintain free from stagnant rain water all roof gutters; ensure that uninhabited buildings, structures must be free from all kinds of waste water; ensure that the buildings or structures under construction or repair must not accumulate stagnant water and solid waste; treat abandoned swimming pools and water fountains, ponds and the like, with larvicides or other means of controlling vectors as allowed by the health service office, and mix salt water or used oil with stagnant water, particularly in areas which are difficult to clean or areas which frequently accumulate stagnant rain water.
The City Health Services Office will be the lead agency in monitoring the strict implementation of the provisions of the ordinance while the Baguio City Anti-Dengue Committee will be created through an Administrative Order to sustain the implementation of the outlined anti-dengue interventions.
The City Mayor will be deputizing the Barangay Anti-Dengue Brigade composed of the Punong Barangay, barangay officials, particularly chairperson of the committees on health and environment, district health center medical officers, barangay health workers and day care workers to help in the implementation of the anti-dengue programs and interventions.
Any person, owner, manager, administrator, officer-in-charge of households, establishments and schools, who violate any provision of the ordinance shall render community service for three days at the barangay where the violation was made for the first offense, a fine in the amount of P1,000 and render community service at the barangay where the violation was made for the second offense and a fine of P3,000 and imprisonment of two days at the discretion of the court.
All funds collected from the violators of the ordinance shall be divided between the city government and the barangay concerned at a 60-40 percentage sharing.
By Dexter A. See
