BONTOC. Until now, there are agencies and offices still using the old provincial logo!
The province has one identity with an official provincial logo that must be used by agencies and offices.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) enacted Provincial Ordinance No. 383 dated September 15, 2020 updating the Coat of Arms or seal or logo of the province.
It is being used by the provincial government. However, it is also observed that some agencies and offices are still using the old ones in tarpaulins and other promotional materials.
Resolution No. 440 of the Provincial Board in 1972 provides for a Coat of Arms for the province as required by the Philippine Heraldry Committee then, now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
“After the birth of the new Mountain Province in 1966, there was need for such a seal”, stated the resolution when former Governor Jaime Gomez was the presiding officer with Jose Dominguez as Vice Governor, and Modesto Calde and John Diaz as Board Members.
The old logo presented “the unique characteristics and the beautiful, towering mountains, dotted with superb, stately pine trees and loaded with untold treasures of gold, silver, copper and other minerals; and bedecked with picturesque rice terraces, living testimonies of engineering feat of the ancestors of the people of the New Mountain Province”.
The long description of the logo prompts one to just look at the photo herein presented. But it is of black letterings.
Since the logo has the proper documentation submitted to the NHCP, it is still recognized and props out once searched in the internet. It being used by national line agencies.
While the one being used by the provincial offices as seen now has no resolution or ordinance submitted to the NHCP. It bears blue letterings in the “Mountain Province” and the “Official Seal” portions.
The latest Ordinance No. 383 of the SP prescribes for the logo that is very similar to the one being used by provincial offices save for the stars that were five (5) that used to represent the five defunct sub-provinces of Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao and Kainga-Apayao.
In the latest Ordinance, there are TEN (10} stars that represents the ten (10) municipalities of the province and 144 beads encircling the warrior shield to represent the 144 barangays of the province.
The “mountains”, in the logo that represents the eastern municipalities of Barlig, Natonin, and Paracelis, central municipalities of Bontoc and Sadanga, and western parts of the province composed by the municipalities of Sagada, Besao, Sabangan, Bauko, and Tadian, are now similar in heights unlike before when the center was higher than the two being host of the capital town.
Under the latest Ordinance, the logo shall be used by all offices within the province as symbol of the province and letter head of official documents.
The prohibitions states that it shall be unlawful for anyone to use the seal for personal purposes, display in any part infomercials and advertisements except when undertaken by the provincial government.
Penalties for those who commit the prohibitions shall be meted a fine of Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00) or imprisonment of three (3) days or both at the discretion of the court.
The effectivity of the Ordinance shall in accordance with the provisions of RA 7160 or otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
Brought the concerns of the use of old logo to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Assistant Provincial Secretary Andrew Magwilang said that “the SP has done its part and if there are still agencies and offices, then the executive has to issue a memorandum to enforce the Provincial Ordinance reading the use of the latest logo”. **Roger Sacyaten
