The municipal council of La Trinidad, Benguet is urging the residents to participate during public consultations for the better crafting of ordinances.
Vice Mayor Ro-derick Awingan, du-ring the fifth Legislative Awareness Week Celebration on Dec. 14, said an ordinance is not the product of one person only, as it takes the collective inputs and cooperation of everyone.
“What we are emphasizing is that the next time we call for a committee hearing or a public consultation, we invite you to be there because your responses are very important and critical for the implementation and providing solutions to critical issues in our community,” Awingan said.
Awingan, who presented the state of the sangguniang bayan, said the successful implementation of an ordinance will also be possible with the cooperation of the mayor, government agencies, civil society organizations, and the public.
He emphasized the role of the council that it enacts ordinances, approves resolutions, and appropriate funds for public welfare.
From July 2022 to Dec. 14, the council passed 510 resolutions including requests for funding support, commendation, authority for the mayor, sisterhood ties, agreements, among others. It also created 380 committee reports including review of barangay ordinances, CSO accreditations, authority in the utilization of funds, realignment of funds, and authority for the mayor to enter into contracts; and has ongoing 34 proposed ordinances.
The council also approved 17 ordinan-ces which includes the La Trinidad Traffic Safety and Management Code of 2022, La Trinidad Emergency Employment Program, revised rules of procedure on quasi-judicial function of the council, Bantay Basura amendatory ordinance, and an amendatory ordinance to The Tourism Code of 2020.
Awingan said the council is also willing to assist their counterparts in the 16 barangays in their training and other programs to better craft ordinances in their own level.
After a barangay ordinance is approved by the barangay council and signed by the punong barangay, this will be forwarded to the municipal council for its review.
The council was lauded as the provincial and regional local legislative awards champion in 2019 to 2022.
Recently, the council was the national finalist in the first to third-class municipality category of the 2023 local legislative award given by the Philippine Councilors League during its year-end assembly at the World Trade Center, Pasay City on Dec. 5. The newest member of the municipal council is Sangguniang Kabataan Federation President Frederick Guzman of Tawang. – Ofelia C. Empian
