Reducing years for background check in street naming legal

CEBU - The City Council committee on laws said there is no legal obstacle in amending an existing ordinance that sets the number of years within which a public street, building, or plaza can be named after a person.

Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem has proposed to bring down to one year the five-year requirement set by City Ordinance 1791 because he said that unlike before, a background check of the person to whom the honor is intended to be given would now be easier with the advent of modern technology.

Councilor Edgardo Labella, chairman of the committee on laws, said the move does not violate the Local Government Code.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña earlier suggested naming a street in barangay Calamba after famous radio personality Nenita “Inday Nita” Cortes-Daluz as a way to honor the broadcaster because of her notable service to the public when she was still alive. Daluz had led several activities to fight the Marcos dictatorship.

August last year, Daluz passed away at the age of 68 because of heart and kidney failure.

But the naming could not be implemented yet because of the five-year requirement under C.O. 1791. The time for a background check is necessary to establish that the person to whom the honor is given does not have a derogatory record.

The FREEMAN columnist Valeriano “Bobit” Avila once described Daluz as one of the bravest women in the country.

“Only few radio broadcasters had the guts to openly attack the Marcos Dictatorship,” Avila wrote. Daluz was put to jail twice because her commentaries against the Marcos rule over the radio. — Rene U. Borromeo/JMO (THE FREEMAN)