BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance setting the guidelines for the “Adopt A Park’ program of the city and for other purposes that it may serve.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Ellaine D. Sembrano stated the measure shall be applied to all parks in the city qualified under the city’s “Adopt A Park” project to improve the overall condition of the city’s environment.
The ordinance added that it shall be the responsibility of the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) to implement and monitor the compliance of the concerned government agencies, city departments, and private groups to the ordinance.
Under the provisions of the proposed ordinance, no organization, association, cooperative or corporation shall be allowed to adopt a park unless said organization, association, cooperative or corporation satisfies the conditions of being duly registered with the appropriate government agency such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry or any regulatory agency, accredited with the local government pursuant to the Local Government Code; has an established office in the city; the majority of the officers, in the case of associations, organizations or cooperatives, their duly authorized representatives, must have membership to local government unit special bodies, involvement to civic activities and awards.
Further, the interested groups must be able to provide the necessary certificate of budget allocation for the maintenance of the subject park duly signed by the adopter’s treasurer and chairperson of the Board of Trustees or Directors duly notarized, park enhancement plan and endorsement from the barangay council where the park to be adopted is located.
Sembrano revealed all applications for the project shall be forwarded to the CEPMO for evaluation and if found to be in compliance with the qualifications and requirements, the same shall be indorsed to the City Council for approval.
The local legislative body’s approval shall include an authority for the local chief executive to sign for and on behalf of the local government the ‘Adopt A Park’ agreement.
The agreement shall be valid for a period of 9 years renewable for another 9 years unless earlier cancelled for due cause and that there shall be no limit on the renewal of the agreement, provided, that no park adopter found to be remiss of its obligation or whose agreement is revoked for due cause, shall be renewed or allowed to re-apply.
The ordinance asserted no vertical structure, such as shed, kiosk or shaded walkway shall be constructed within the park by the adopters and that benches and concrete slabs as stair rung may be constructed provided that the same are part of the landscape.
The violations of the ordinance are non-implementation and unauthorized alteration of the park enhancement plan as approved by the local legislative body, utilizing the park for commercial purposes, allowing the park as venue for illegal acts whether or not the adopter is aware, negligence of the adopter leading to the deterioration of the park and any other act or omission that prevents the full enjoyment of said park by the public. By Dexter A. See
