The city council on Monday approved Ordinance 19, s. 2020, which sets the new schedule of activities for the staging of the 2020 Baguio Flower Festival or the 25thPanagbenga Festival.
The grand opening parade and drum and lyre competition/elimination will be conducted March 21 from 1 to 2 p.m. including assembly and preparation. It will start at South Drive from entrance of Teacher’s Camp up to Panagbenga Park, going down Lower Session Road up to Magsaysay Avenue intersection fronting the Baguio Center Mall to the intersection of Harrison Road up to Lake Drive fronting the Baguio Patriotic School.
The grand street dance parade is set March 28 from 1 to 3 p.m.to start at South Drive, Military Cut-off Rotunda, winding down to Lower Session Road, Magsaysay Road, and Harrison Road while the grand float parade is March 29 from 1 to 3 p.m., passing through the same route.
Both lanes of Session Road, from SM rotunda to Malcolm Square, will be closed to vehicular traffic for the Session Road in Bloom, which will run after the float parade until midnight of April 5.
The body also approved through Resolution 110, s. 2020 the extension of operation until April 5 of the Baguio Blooms Exposition being held at the Baguio Convention Center grounds without additional assessment fees, as requested by the Baguio Blooms Exposition committee of Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc.
Representatives of BFFI said that most of the tenants of the Baguio Blooms Fair, which is supposed to end March 8, have experienced low sales since the activity opened on Feb. 1 due to the threats of the coronavirus disease-2019.
Meanwhile, the body approved Ordinance 21, s. 2020, which “prohibits the disposal of agricultural refuse/waste at the city public market and in different satellite markets, or in any area in the City of Baguio.”
The measure, which was submitted to Mayor Benjamin Magalong for his signature, requires wholesalers of agricultural crops to bring their agricultural refuse back to their source of origin.
As used in the ordinance, a wholesaler is a person or firm that buys large quantity of goods from various producers or vendors, stores them, and sells them to retailers.
The measure stated that bulk of the garbage from the public market and other areas of the city are refuse/wastes of agricultural products brought into the city by traders from different provinces, cities, and municipalities.
Refuse/wastes refer to unwanted or unsalable materials produced wholly from agricultural operations directly related to the growing of crops, such as but not limited to wastes from vegetables, fruits and flowers, trimmings, banana trunks and leaves, corn husks, corncobs, and others.
Data obtained from the General Services Office revealed that the average volume of agricultural refuse collected daily from the city market alone are15 tons from vegetables; 1.5 tons from flowers, and 0.7 tons from fruits.
Violators will be fined P1,000 on first offense; P3,000, second offense; and P5,000 on third and subsequent offenses.
The City Market Division of the City Treasury Office were tasked to enforce the ordinance.
Also approved is Ordinance 22, s. 2020 or the “Health and Bodybuilding Clubs, Physical Fitness Center, and Aerobic and Slimmers Salons or Gyms Regulation Ordinance in the City of Baguio.”
The ordinance wants the trainers/instructors of health and fitness establishments to have enough knowledge and proper training on how to administer first aid to clients who might suffer an injury, seizure, or cardiac arrest during a workout or strenuous physical activity.
The measure mandates all persons in charge of the above-mentioned establishments to: Require their trainers/instructors to undergo training on first aid as a pre-requisite for hiring or continuous employment,display at all times in a conspicuous place of the establishment the certificate of training on first aid issued by the Philippine National Red Cross or any government agency concerned, and require their clients to submit medical certification prior to enrollment to any of their fitness program.
The persons in charge refer to the president/manager in case of a company, corporation, partnership or association operating the facility or gym; owner/proprietor/operator/instructor in case of a single proprietorship; administrator in case of government-owned fitness/gym facility; and the school president or principal in case of school-owned facility.
Fines for persons in charge who knowingly allow, abet, authorize, or tolerate the prohibited acts or who fails to fulfill the duties and obligations required by the ordinance are P1,500 with warning on first offense; P3,000 with warning on second offense; and P5,000 and revocation of business permit on third offense.
The City Health Services Office and the City Permits and Licensing Division under the City Mayor’s Office were tasked to conduct monitoring and inspection of all covered establishments to determine their compliance.
April 20, 2024
