EXPLAINER: Abellanosa ordinance on ‘anti-violence and school safety’ draws activist flak. Protesters see it as attempt to muzzle academic freedom. Police had admitted they don’t have enough people for Cebu City schools.

A PUBLIC hearing by the Cebu City Council Wednesday, January 18, 2023 on the proposed ordinance titled “Anti-Violence and School Safety Ordinance” drew opposition from the student council and a faculty organization of University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu. The ordinance, filed by Councilor Jose Lorenzo Abellanosa, mainly requires schools “to submit its calendar of […]

City dad files measure requiring restos to serve free drinkable water

RESTAURANTS and other food establishments in Cebu City may soon be required to serve free potable service water to their customers. This after City Councilor Rey Gealon filed a proposed ordinance during the Council’s regular session on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, that requires operators and owners of any establishment that serves food to have potable […]

EXPLAINER: Cebu City Council power of contempt won’t be like how Congress wields it. But Sanggunian, under the approved de los Santos ordinance, can look into almost anything ‘in aid of legislation,’ expanding its power to investigate under the City Charter.

THE ordinance that the Cebu City Council approved on final reading last Wednesday (December 21, 2022) had undergone changes since Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos re-submitted it a week earlier, heeding recommendations of the committee on laws and styling. Its chief problem has been the question of legality. The Supreme Court laid down 58 […]

Pasig City bans operators of offshore gaming, other online gambling firms

THE PASIG City government is banning offshore gaming operators and other online gambling businesses through a local ordinance approved on December 15, with existing establishments given until end-2023 to close shop. Pasig City Mayor Victor Ma. Regis “Vico” N. Sotto, in a tweet on Tuesday, announced that he has signed City Ordinance No. 55, which […]

CCCI opposes ‘expensive’ provision in disaster resiliency legislation

NEARLY a year has passed since Typhoon Odette (Rai) brought widespread devastation in Cebu, the proposed disaster resiliency ordinance has yet to be passed by the city council after a local business group objected to some provisions of the legislation. The City Councilor James Cuenco-authored legislation, called Resiliency and Efficiency Amidst Disaster and Emergency (Reade) […]

Año: Cebu ordinance on optional mask wearing ‘defective’; Gwen undeterred

DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday, June 14, 2022 that the ordinance passed by the Cebu Provincial Council which makes the wearing of face masks optional in open and well-ventilated areas in the province has “no legal basis and considered defective.”Año said he is consulting his legal team for […]

World Architecture Day: Mandaue—PH city with Green Building Ordinance adopting BERDE system—leads the way

The current health crisis may have distracted us from older problems that have plagued many cities in the world today. One of these is environmental degradation resulting from several malpractices. To counter the consequences of our abuse of nature and its resources, we initiated some actions toward being “friendlier” to Mother Earth. Being “green-minded” is […]

Gratuity pay for Cebu City barangay officials gets Council nod

THE Cebu City Council approved on third and final reading the ordinance that establishes a retirement gratuity benefit for elected barangay officials, which is now awaiting the mayor’s signature. The measure was approved during the City Council’s regular session on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021. As stated in Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia’s ordinance, barangay captains will […]