Vice Mayor reports accomplishments for 2021

Vice Mayor Faustino A. Olowan reported the overall accomplishments of the City Council last year during the regular Monday flag raising ceremony held at the city hall grounds.

From January 4, to December 31, 2021, the city council enacted 121 ordinances and 641 resolutions, conducted 34 public consultations and monitored and evaluated 42 existing city ordinances and resolutions.

The vice mayor clarified that most of the enacted ordinances and resolutions by the council were authored by all the members and have gone through public consultations through the standing committees and deliberations to ensure quality legislations.

Among the salient legislations passed include the establishment of a Baguio coffee brand; the grant of cash incentives to barangay officials for the implementation of the Anti-Road Obstruction Operations; the modernization of the Baguio City public library; the responsible dog ownership ordinance; the creation of a city-wide mental health program; the sports development code of Baguio City; the prohibition of street gang violence; and the localization of the universal health care law.

He recognized the organization of the Baguio Farmers Cooperative organized in 2019 for local farmers producing coffee from their plantations situated in the different parts of the city whose coffee brand is now sold in the market.

Further, the cooperative was provided a coffee processing center by the Department of Trade and Industry–Cordillera Administrative Region (DTI-CAR) through the Shared Service Facility (SSF).

On the other hand, barangay officers deputized for the implementation of the Anti-Road Obstruction (ARO) Operations are now being granted cash incentives under a collection scheme which provides that 70 percent of the collected fines from the ARO violations will be remitted to the concerned barangays while 30 percent will accrue to the city, and 20 percent of the share of the barangays will be given as cash incentive to the deputized barangay enforcers and after deducting the amount to be granted to the enforcers, the remainder of the proceeds will be deposited in a trust fund to defray the expenses and operations of the task force of the barangays.

Moreover, the goal of the city to modernize the City Library and expand its services was realized with the city government responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the facility.

The city government is also requiring the mandatory registration of dogs aged 3 months and above in the city through micro-chipping, dog tagging, or other safe and reliable means aside from the prescribed mandatory vaccination of all dogs to be administered by licensed veterinarians or trained vaccinators under the direct supervision of the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO).

The council also helped in strengthening the implementation of the universal health care program in the city with the enactment of the ordinance that will localize its implementation for the city residents. – Dexter A. See