3 bills by Baguio solon meet senate Approval

The Senate passed three bills authored by Baguio City Representative Mark Go that are geared towards shaping the city’s sustainable development.

HB 6491, which seeks the full rehabilitation of Kennon Road, and HBs 7994 and 7995, which propose to convert the Fort del Pilar and Hillside Annexes of the Baguio City National High School into independent national high schools, are on their way to becoming laws after being approved by the upper house on 3rd reading.

Once signed into law, HB 6491 would mandate the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to undertake Kennon Road’s full rehabilitation and maintenance, one of the oldest and most popular highways to Baguio City, into a safe and all-weather road. The road work will cover parts of Kennon Road that pass through barangays Camps 1 to 6 in Tuba, Benguet and Camps 7 and 8 in Baguio City.

Popular among Baguio City-bound motorists, Kennon Road has been the site of numerous accidents and experienced frequent closures caused by landslides. Rep. Go said that a full rehabilitation of the 117-year-old highway was long overdue, and would assure the safety and convenience of travelers in the long term.

Meanwhile, HBs 7994 and 7995 will see the conversion of the Fort del Pilar and Hillside annexes into independent national high schools to better serve the youth of Baguio City and provide them with accessible and quality education.

According to Rep. Go, the conversion of these annexes would allow these schools to accommodate more students and provide them with a conducive learning environment, with improved facilities and an adequate student-teacher ratio.

Rep. Go said that the schools would cater to students from surrounding barangays so they can have access to a national high school and relieve its mother school from the burden of overpopulation.

The conversion would also provide more efficient services by decentralizing leadership, management, and school supervision. It would also allow these former annexes to manage their maintenance and other operating expenses, as well as the establishment of their own plantilla positions as deemed necessary.

The bills await the House of Representatives’ ratification before they are transmitted to Malacañang for the President’s signature. ###