The city council has welcomed its new ex-officio member, Councilor Maximo Hilario Edwin Jr., who will serve as the city’s Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative.
His certificate of affirmation from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Cordillera as the duly selected representative of the indigenous cultural communities or indigenous peoples to the city council was concurred and formalized through Resolution 75, s. 2023.
The action conforms to the provisions of Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997, which mandates seats to IPMRs in the local legislative councils or sanggunians at all levels, and NCIP Administrative Order 2021-01 that also mandates IP representation in local councils and policy-making bodies.
IPMRs are mandated to carry out at all times the collective interests and aspirations of the indigenous cultural community and to formulate an IP agenda and source financial support for its implementation in consultation with the IP leaders or elders or the community.
The city council approved Ordinance 14, s. 2023 amending Ordinance 28, s. 2018 to heighten the implementation, enforcement, and observance of parking spaces and blue lanes allotted for persons with disabilities.
The ordinance has included additional consideration that vehicles being driven by a PWD or ferrying a PWD may park at any public or private designated parking slot for PWDs.
The vehicle must be owned by the PWD or their family and the PWD must be inside the vehicle or to be fetched and to use such vehicle, when parking in the PWD designated areas.
Any private commercial establishment who willfully refuse to implement the ordinance shall be fine P1,000 on first offense; P3,000 on second offense; P5,000 on third offense; and revocation of permit to operate business on offenses.
The body has also approved Resolution 86, s. 2023 amending Resolution 637, s. 2022 to include in request to the City Mayor’s Office the “other vendors of peanuts, corn, and the like, who have been operating with valid permits until Dec. 31, 2022” for a privilege of six months extension in their current areas or locations, from January to June, or until such time the City Planning and Development Office has come up with concrete plans and arrangements for a relocation for them to be accommodated.
The Permits and Licensing Division has earlier granted such similar extension to the newspaper stand vendors and watch repair proprietors.
The city council through Resolution 82, s. 2023 has requested the President and Chief Executive Officer of ACEN Corporation for possible putting up of wind mills for energy in the Baguio City, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay.
The move is in conformity with Ordinance 18, s. 2016 or the “Environment Code of the City of Baguio”, and Ordinance 43, s. 2018, which mandates all government facilities such as office buildings, schools, hospitals, barangay halls, day care centers, health centers, covered courts, streetlights, overpasses, parks, and treatment plants, to use energy-saving technologies like LED light bulbs and renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal.
The resolution stated in a recent study made by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the Philippines could see more than $1.1 billion, or roughly P56 billion, of gross value added to the economy with more than 1,650 megawatts of wind installations completed under a more ambitious approach from 2022 to 2026.
ACEN Corporation is currently building over 1,000 MW of solar and wind projects in the Philippines, of which around 700 MW is expected to start operations within the next 12 months that would surely help alleviate the supply pressure. This would also help the country achieve its renewable energy targets by increasing the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 35 percent by 2023 and 50 percent by 2040.
The body has granted through Resolution 87, s. 2023 City Mayor Benjamin Magalong authority to enter into a trial agreement with the Metro Waste Solid Waste Management Corporation relative to a proof of concept of the proposed Solid Waste Collection System using waste bins in Baguio at no cost to the city and its constituents for 30 days with conditions.
The resolution suggested the trial may be better conducted in a barangay where the City General Services Office can easily monitor and must be coordinated with the concerned barangay to set parameters of the trial and address immediate concerns.
The volume of wastes collected from the areas where the trial shall be conducted should be established before the trial and the volume of waste from the trial areas received at the transfer station shall be recorded to provide basis in the evaluation and waste bins for biodegradables shall be separate from other wastes while policies on segregation at source will still be implemented.
The city council advised the City Environment and Parks Management Office not to accept payment on the use of parks for trade fairs or exhibitions without its approval considering the policy not to allow the conduct in any public place or area of non-Panagbenga activities during the month-long festival.
In separate resolutions, the city council has requested the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Cordillera for the amendment of SWO-CAR-000967 survey plan to remove the name of Everlasting Pinegold Community Association, Inc. from the actual claim of the City of Baguio; for the City Land Needs Identification Committee to continue with the survey identification of possible areas to be recovered by the city government from its 152-hectare property at Sto. Tomas barangay and to indicate the conflicts therein and submit the result of the survey for evaluation and conformity by the city council; for DENR-Cordillera to set aside all applications for titling on the area of Baguio City’s multi-land use area for engineered sanitary landfill, housing, schools, government offices and facilities site, whether these are townsite sales applications or free patent applications, especially applications from the Everlasting Pinegold Community Association, Inc.; for and Everlasting Pinegold Community Association, Inc. to coordinate with the city mayor and city council regarding their request for housing and for them to stop encroaching other portions of Baguio city’s multi-land use.
April 26, 2024
