City dad mulls reviving ordinance watchdog body

The city council is looking into reviving an ordinance that was enacted purposely to ensure that all ordinances enacted by the city council will be fully implemented.

Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, the proponent of the move, said the ordinance has been ignored since it was enacted 21 years ago in 1987.  He said that it is about time that it be reimplemented because it is very beneficial to the city.

Jakosalem said Ordinance Number 1241, which created the Cebu City Ordinance Enforcement Commission, was unearthed recently when he asked for the list of the city’s commissions to determine if they are still workable.

He said the ordinance addresses the present concerns of the city because there have been many ordinances in the recent years that have not been fully implemented.

With the Ordinance Enforcement Commission, there would be a body that would ensure that the city’s laws are properly and fully implemented.

But Jakosalem said that should it be revived, he would prefer the commission be composed of more members as opposed to its original composition of five.

“I want to reenact this ordinance because it’s much needed now...there are a lot of ordinances that were created for very noble purposes but were not properly implemented or nakalimtan,” Jakosalem said, referring especially to ordinances that deal with public order and safety.

He said that the Ordinance Enforcement Commission will be the answer to the present concern because as stipulated in the ordinance that created it, the commission will be in charge of digging up the ordinances that need to be strongly implemented, those that need to be reimplemented or revised, and those that have to be prioritized.

Jakosalem’s proposal came just as councilor Augustus Pe asked during the council’s regular session Wednesday if the city has a standing mechanism to ensure that all laws passed by the city council are indeed properly implemented.

“We had great minds in the past who had great ideas and then transformed them into ordinances that many have probably forgotten about. Let’s review them all and see which are applicable to the present times and which need to be prioritized, amended, or repealed, according to our present and future needs,” Jakosalem said.  — Joeberth M. Ocao/BRP