The city council has approved Ordinance 74, s. 2023, which requires all business establishments in Baguio with entertainers or night workers to require their employees to submit duly issued and valid true or authenticated copies of their birth certificates and keep copies of the same on file for purposes of inspections in compliance with working permit requirements.
The measure has amended Ordinance 102, s. 2008 to emphasize the prohibition on concerned establishments employing entertainers or night workers without presenting and submitting their duly issued and valid true or authenticated copies of their birth certificate.
This is to legally protect minors and prevent them from working in violation of the Labor Code of the Philippines. Their valid certified true or authenticated copies of birth certificates shall be presented to the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center of the City Health Services Office when they apply for work in night establishments.
It also aims to eradicate the worst forms of child labor, provide vital protection for working children, monitor the employment of minors in all business establishments with entertainers and/or night workers, and prevent children from being exposed to hazardous places.
Under the ordinance, the City Social Welfare and Development Office, the regional offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Baguio City Police Office can exercise visitorial powers and interview every employee in the establishments to determine their actual ages and identify and require the presentation of their health records.
During an inspection, the authenticated copy or a certified true copy of the employee’s birth certificate and any government-issued identification card must be available and presented at all times to the inspection team.
In exercising visitorial powers, the National Privacy Commission shall always be consulted to protect the personal information of employees in all business establishments with entertainers and/or night workers as provided under Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
Business establishments with entertainers and/or night workers found violating the ordinance will be penalized with a fine of P5,000 and revocation/forfeiture of the business permit, without prejudice to possible criminal and civil liability.
Applicants who submit falsified birth certificates in their employment applications shall be prosecuted and held liable under the provisions of the Revised Penal Code and other pertinent laws upon endorsement of the City Legal Office of such violation to the City Prosecutor’s Office.
Applicants who fail to submit their duly authenticated birth certificates shall not be issued work permits.
The city council has approved Ordinance 73, s. 2023, amending certain provisions of Ordinance 18, s. 2016 or the Baguio Environment Code.
Amended Section 239 of the ordinance provides for the collection of a P100 tree planting certification fee from couples intending to marry in the city. This certification, to be issued by the City Environment and Parks Management Office, is a prerequisite for the issuance of a marriage license.
It certifies to the City Civil Registrar Office that the couples have complied with the “mandatory pine tree planting” or have planted at least one tree at a designated place and supervised by the Cepmo.
The same section provides that causing the issuance of a marriage license in violation of the provision shall be a ground for dismissal of government employees involved.
Under Section 251, a permit fee of P700 per cubic meter or a fraction thereof must be paid at the City Treasury Office before a permit to cut trees is issued.
In Section 255, the permit to transport wood is P300 for every cubic meter or fraction thereof. Logs, lumber, timber, and firewood to be transported must have a transport permit with supporting documents such as a certificate of timber of origin and a tree-cutting permit with supporting documents such as a certificate of timber of origin and a tree-cutting permit.
The permit to transport must be signed and issued by the Office of the City Mayor upon the recommendation of the forest officers of the Forest and Watershed Division of Cepmo.
National and local government agencies are exempt from the permit fee. The increased rates, as requested by Cepmo, would support the increasing cost of seedlings and maintain and upgrade the city’s public service operations.
The ordinances were submitted to Mayor Benjamin Magalongfor his signature.
April 29, 2024
