MINDANAO DAILY YOUR MINDANAO-WIDE NEWSPAPER
Volume VII, No. 106 Website: www.mindanaodailynews.com
Sat-Sun
September 23-24, 2017
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Anti-hazing bill also covers brgy, high school fraternities
More Mindanao ecotourism zones soon
The House committee on tourism has approved several measures declaring various areas in Mindanao as ecotourism zones. The bills passed at the committee level are as follows: House Bill (HB) 4711 authored by Rep. Francisco Jose Matugas II (1st District, Surigao del Norte), for Siargao and Bucas Grande Island in Surigao del Norte; HB 4946 for the Malubal Falls in Zamboanga Sibugay and HB 4979 for the Cave in Underground Tipan Cave also in Zamboanga Sibugay, both authored by Rep. Ann Hofer (2nd District, Zamboanga Sibugay). HB 4711 mandates the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to make an inventory of the existing flora and fauna in Siargao and Bucas Grande Islands which shall be the basis of a master plan that will be developed for the said ecotourism site. The declaration of said areas as ecotourism zones is expected to boost local government income, generate earnings from foreign exchange, and create employment opportunities for the people residing in the area. The bills also mandate the establishment of ecotourism councils and the development of master plans for the respective areas. Meanwhile, the committee also approved House Bill No. 4526 or “An Act Declaring the Province of Palawan as the Cruise Ship Capital of the Philippines and for Other Purposes.” Declaring the Palawan as such “would create a favourable image of the country in the international community, thereby strengthening the country’s attraction as a tourism destination,” said the bill’s proponents.
BARANGAYS and schools must be on alert against frats that resort to hold-ups of PUVs as initiation rites. House Committee on Public Information Chair and Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy who is the principal author of House Bill 3467 or the Revised Anti-Hazing Law, says that fraternities and sisterhoods at the grassroots levels of barangays and neighborhoods are also covered by the Anti-Hazing Bill. The definition of hazing in my House Bill 3467 focuses on the acts committed against the victim. It does not matter where the hazing is committed, as long as it is within the country and any place where Philippine laws apply. In HB 3467 states that organizations covered include, but are not limited to, fraternities, sororities, and clubs. The schools mentioned in HB 3467 include any school in the country. HB 3467 is pending in the House Committee on Justice where HB 2560, HB 3731, and HB 3963 also are and will be consolidated into one bill. TV news and viral videos of street gangs have been recent cause for serious concern aside from the fraternities involving college students. HB 3963 tasks local government officials, especially the barangays to be vigilant vis-a-vis fraternities and gangs in their areas of jurisdiction. HB 3963 has three sections (Sections 8, 9, and 10) which are about the registration and monitoring of comunity-based fraternities. Out-of-school youth and students in junior high school and senior high school are especially prone to invites from frats
and gangs. Barangay and school principals must work together and apply their child protection policies effectively and pro-actively. They must be on the alert against frats and gangs that get involved in illegal drugs or resort to hold-ups of taxis and jeepneys as initiation rites for neophytes.
Neighborhood frats and gangs can also be used by organized crime engaged in human trafficking, illegal drugs, and prostitution of children and teenagers. Crime syndicates are well aware of the minimum age of criminal responsibility stated in the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006. The link between
neighborhood frats and gangs and juvenile crime is a clear and present danger to our communities. Effective implementation of the consolidated Anti-Hazing measure in the House when it becomes a law will be another way for government to reduce crime in our, schools, streets and near our homes.
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