LGUs
Dagonoy Market facelift finished THE city government of Manila, under Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada, has completed the P48.29-million renovation of the Dagonoy Public Market in San Andres Bukid. The refurbished market, located along Florentino Street (formerly Dagonoy), is the sixth city-run market to undergo major repairs under Estrada’s market rehabilitation program. “We are proud to report that the old Dagonoy Market has been renovated, repaired, and beautified for the convenience and safety of the vendors and market-goers. Many more will follow,” Estrada said. “When we say ‘palengke’, we would always think it is a dirty and smelly place, but not anymore here in Manila. Our newly renovated public markets would be like shopping malls and big private supermarkets. We don’t want a dirty and smelly one,” he added. With sole funding from the city government, the Office of the City Engineer had the entire Dagonoy Market repainted, power and water lines were replaced, and the drainage system improved, according to Engr. Henry Alcantara. The building’s dilapidated and leaking roof was also replaced with new steel trusses and galvanized iron sheets, while new tiles were put on the floor, especially the main isle. Alcantara said all the rolling doors of the 4,685-square meter building were also replaced with new ones. At the wet and dry sections, the market’s 456 stalls were repaired with new tiles. “The two toilets inside were also renovated. We replaced the old toilet bowls and put in new faucets, which could be hardly used before,” the engineer said, adding it was the first major renovation done at Dagonoy Market in recent years. Moreover, the sidewalk and road pavement near Dagonoy Market were also repaired, while a new culvert pipe was also installed to improve its drainage system, Alcantara said. The pedestrian walkways around the market, particularly along Florentino, Crisolita, and Onyx streets, have also been covered with canopies, he added. Jovita Lacson, the market master of Dagonoy, said this was the first time the market was renovated since it was constructed in 2005. She said the stall owners were elated the market’s facilities were finally renovated and improved. Sandy Araneta
Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS
TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017
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Stiffer fines for smokers By Sandy Araneta
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HE City Council of Manila has passed a new anti-smoking ordinance that slaps up to P5,000 fine and three-day imprisonment to violators, following Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s recent move to impose a citywide smoking ban. “We don’t have to remind everyone, again and again, that smoking is bad for your health. Does this need to be memorized?” Estrada said. “But with this new ordinance that carries heftier fines and penalties, I’m expecting that smokers, at least, must think twice before lighting a cigarette,” Estrada said. “This is a warning.” While lauding the City Council for its swift action, Estrada said he hopes Ordinance No. 7812 would discourage smokers to continue with the bad habit and push them to start a healthier lifestyle, like what he has started when he quit smoking last December. Estrada, 79, has kicked smoking after he was briefly hospitalized last December due to asthma attacks. He said he has started chewing sugar-free medicated loz-
enges after being discharged from the hospital as an alternative. Last February, he directed the strict implementation of City Ordinance No. 7748 that prohibits smoking in all enclosed places like hospitals, schools, public buildings, shopping malls, and other public places in the city. During an en banc session last Thursday, the Sangguniang Panglungsod unanimously approved in third and final reading Ordinance No. 7812 or the “SmokeFree Ordinance of the City Government of Manila,” which takes effect 15 days after its publication in major newspapers. Authored by Councilor Casimiro Sison, the new ordinance is intended to support the implementation of the old law, Ordinance No. 7748, which has been in effect since 1991. That law prohibits smoking in all enclosed spaces and establishments such as bars, restaurants, public theaters, and malls; factories and plants, public utility vehicles, classrooms and school grounds, hospitals and clinics, and markets, among others. Sison’s ordinance limits its coverage to all public buildings, facilities and establishments “owned, used, or controlled or administered by the City Government of Manila.” “I think this is really to show a good example on the part of the city, that we are really serious about the prohibition [on smoking], strictly,” said Sison. He added Estrada asked for the speedy approval of
the new ordinance “so other sectors will follow.” Under the recently passed ordinance, apprehended violators are to be fined P2,000 and/or one-day imprisonment or both for the first offense; P3,000 and two-day prison term for the second; and P5,000 and/or three-day imprisonment or both for the third offense. This is a far cry from the measly P300 fine and a maximum of two-day imprisonment mandated in the 1991 ordinance. In addition, Ordinance No. 7812 also prohibits the mere possession of any tobacco products, including “vape” devices, “whether the smoke is being actively inhaled or exhaled.” The smoking ban in city government buildings is also not limited inside the buildings but also within the compound, and within 100 meters from such city government properties, per the new ordinance. For those who cannot control the unhealthy vice, the ordinance mandates the establishment of smoking areas outside each city government building provided it is not less than 10 meters away from where people pass or congregate and with visible “Smoking Area” and “Minors Not Allowed” signage complete with graphic health warnings. The purpose of the ordinance, it stated, is “to set an example to the private sector in promoting a smokefree environment and to safeguard the health of the public using such establishment from the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco consumption.”
Youth flock to SMART program
Makati City Mayor Abby Binay (center, in blue dress) joins city councilors and sports personalities in launching the Sports, Music, Arts and Recreation Training (SMART) summer program held at the Makati City Hall Quadrangle. Manny Palmero
Pag-IBIG, Caloocan teachers break ground on village THE Pag-IBIG Fund and the Caloocan North Mentors Ville Association Inc. recently led the groundbreaking ceremony of the Mentors Ville 1 housing project at Palmera Spring Ville, Camarin Road, Caloocan City, where 173 houses will be built on the 10,147-sq. m. lot. “This is Pag-IBIG’s first housing project in Caloocan in partnership with a developer specifically for teachers. The beneficiaries have already been identified for the housing project and we hope that this will be an inspiration to provide more housing for teachers,” said Pag-IBIG Acting Deputy CEO for Home Lending Operations Cluster Marilene C. Acosta. According to Pag-IBIG Acting Senior Vice President for Business Development Sector Benjamin R. Felix, Jr., there will be regular townhouse units and other units with firewalls. Each unit has a lot area of 35 sq. m. and a selling price of P1.2 million. “The housing project’s beneficiaries can avail of the units through Pag-IBIG’s End-User Home Financing program,” he explained. CNMVAI president Ma. Luisa S. Dannug thanked Pag-IBIG and project developer Hauwei Builders and Development Corp. for helping realize the long-time dream of teachers of having their own home. “We are blessed today because we were given the opportunity to fulfill our dreams as teachers,” Dannug said. DepEd Division of Caloocan Supervisor Connie Bunag also thanked both parties for giving teachers the opportunity to own a house. Pag-IBIG signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Education as early as Dec. 2, 2011 to give DepEd employees and teachers access to housing services such as housing loan counselling and pre-qualification screening, among others.
Pag-IBIG Fund Acting Senior Vice President Benjamin R. Felix Jr. (fifth from left) leads the groundbreaking of the teachers’ village in Caloocan. With him are (from left) Pag-IBIG Acting Vice President Engr. Elmer Gabriel D. Tugade, Manager Nanette T. Abilay, Hauwei Builders & Development Corp. Vice Presidents Edison Tan and Arnel Meily, Chairman William Young, Caloocan North Mentors Ville Association Inc. President Ma. Luisa S. Dannug, HBDC Managing Directors Sam David Young and Wan Ming, Department of Education Supervisor Dr. Connie Bunag, Barangay Chairman Ruben dela Cruz, LGU Caloocan Special Assistant Angeles Basconcillo, and Mary Rose S. Barrios of ISWEAR.
8 hurt as IED explodes in Tacurong City TACURONG CITY, Sultan Kudarat— Eight persons were wounded in an explosion here Monday morning perpetrated by a man now being hunted by authorities, police said. Senior Supt. Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat police director, said the suspect threw an improvised explosive device beside a fried banana vendor not far from the Valdez Mother and Child Hospital and Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative main office at around 8:30 a.m. “It was an improvised bomb that will
explode when lobbed,” Supiter said. The police in Sultan Kudarat have been placed on heightened alert following the bomb attack, the seventh in Region 12 or Soccsksargen region since Tuesday last week. Police and bomb experts found cut nails and metal fragments in the blast site along the busy national highway in front of a private university. The injured include the banana vendor – Janice Alacdo, 34, a resident of Barangay New Carmen here – and seven workers of Sukelco, who were to attend a forum in an
open space fronting the cooperative’s office. The motive of the attack remained unknown but the Tacurong City police are following up a lead that could eventually arrest the perpetrators, said Supt. Romeo Galgo Jr, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 12. Supiter said after the blast, the suspect fled on foot toward a waiting motorcycle driven by an accomplice. The cooperative’s employees sustained minor injuries and are now out of danger. PNA
MAKATI Mayor Abby Binay on Monday welcomed some 2,623 young enrollees of the city of Makati’s Sports, Music, Arts and Recreational Training or SMART 2017 summer program as they gathered at the City Hall Quadrangle for its official opening. Binay said the SMART program gives schoolchildren an enjoyable way to spend their summer vacation aside from the chance to develop and harness their potential talents. The mayor also said the city government will support participants who show potential in the field of sports and other events to help them reach their full potential. “Participants who have potential to excel in sports and other fields will be supported by the city government to further develop and enhance their skills and talents,” Binay said. Founded in 2002, the program has 22 events for the participants to choose from, and has always been free of charge. The participants are also given free t-shirts to serve as their uniform. The summer program will run from April 3 to May 25, 2017. Among those who also graced the opening ceremony were Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo, Rep. Luis Campos Jr., city councilors, department heads, basketball player Chris Tiu – who is also a barangay kagawad of Barangay Urdaneta – and UST volleyball player EJ Laure. For SMART 2017, the total number of enrollees are broken down as follows: aikido, 17; arnis, 52; athletics, 30; academic tutorial, 553; badminton, 86; basketball clinic, 170; chess, 63; classical ballet, 109; cooking and baking, 88; dance clinic, 122; drama and acting, 42; drawing and painting, 164; football, 75; guitar lessons, 143; karate, 60; muay thai, 34; personality development, 52; swimming, 374; table tennis, 35; taekwondo, 162; voice lessons, 114; and volleyball clinic, 78.
QC grants P500,000 to movie workers’ fund THE Quezon City Council has passed City Resolution 7014-2017, authorizing Mayor Herbert Bautista to extend P500,000 in assistance to the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation Inc. or Mowelfund in support of the organization’s efforts in promoting the development of the movie workers. District 1 Councilor Lena Marie Juico authored the measure in response to Section 36 of the Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines. It says a local government unit may, through its local chief executive and with the concurrence of the Sanggunian (council) concerned, aid – financial or otherwise – such people’s and nongovernment organizations for economic, socially-oriented, environmental, or cultural projects to be implemented within its territorial jurisdiction. Rio N. Araja