City preparing guidelines on closure of Session Road
The city government will be preparing the uniform guidelines on the closure and use of Session road which will be effective after the ongoing transition period this November and December.
City Budget Officer Leticia O. Clemente stated that the 4 Sundays of November will be devoted to artists and artisans to sell their crafts and art works while the 4 Sundays of December will be dedicated to the sellers of Christmas decors and other related products aside from the regular conduct of busking and other performances allowed by the city government.
She claimed that by next year, the city government will be using a new set of guidelines governing the use of Session road for selling and other purposes to avoid the complaints from the market vendors that the products being sold by the stalls along the stretch of the main road are similar to the ones that they are selling causing undue competition.
Aside from the regular busking activities, other allowed activities along Session road when it is closed during the remaining 2 months will be chalk art and other performances of artists.
Under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines, local governments can close roads for one up to seven days through an order that will be issued by the concerned local chief executive.
However, when the closure of roads exceeds seven days, the same requires an ordinance from the concerned local legislative body.
The city budget officer noted that the closure of the whole stretch of Session Road on the 4 Sundays of this month will primarily focus on the display and marketing of the city’s crafts and art works by local artists and artisans which is part of the lined up activities for the staging of the annual Ibag-iw festival to help maintain the status of the city as a Creative City for crafts and folk arts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network.
On October 31, 2017, Baguio City was conferred by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as the first Philippine city to be declared a Creative City for Crafts and Folk Arts after having passed the stringent screening for the said declaration.
Clemente said that the technical working group assigned to formulate the new guidelines on the closure of Session road every Sunday will be ready with the new rules the soonest in time for the coming of the new year. – Dexter A. See
