Mayor to enlist cops as environment officers

Mayor Benjamin Magalong plans to deputize a number of Baguio City Police Officer personnel as environment officers to enforce the city’s Environment Code and other related laws.

Selected policemen will first undergo trainings on environment laws to prepare them for the task.

The mayor said this will help the city in enforcing laws relating to the environment particularly on cleanliness.  The city’s Environment Code also covers squatting, destruction of protected areas, sourcing of water and others.

The mayor in a memorandum issued Nov. 4 last year tasked the BCPO to include in their mobile and foot patrol activities cleanliness concerns such as unkempt, littered or obstructed roads, sidewalks, waiting sheds and other public spaces.

The mayor asked that patrollers include in their reports photographs and the barangays that have jurisdiction over the problem areas.

“To address the continuous prevalence of unsanitary and disorderly roads, sidewalks and other public spaces in the City, the BCPO is enjoined to direct all mobile patrol units and foot patrollers to include said incidents in their patrol reports,” the mayor noted in Memorandum No. 724.

The mayor said the city government is adopting an aggressive approach to clean and beautify the city amid efforts to break into the new normal phase of life in the pandemic.

The mayor had been going around inspecting nooks and crannies in barangays and calling out individuals and groups responsible for the disorderly and unsightly areas.

He said tapping the BCPO for support in the endeavor will give the program a boost as more areas can be covered and monitored. – Aileen P. Refuerzo