Bontoc, Mountain Province – The Sangguniang Bayan of this municipality amended an ordinance prohibiting and penalizing unsanitary acts in the locality.
The council approved Municipal Ordinance No. 392, S. 2024, “Revising Municipal Ordinance No. 125, S. 2008, entitled An Ordinance Prohibiting and Penalizing Unsanitary Acts in the Municipality of Bontoc, Mountain Province”.
Now dubbed as the “Sanitation Ordinance of Bontoc” sponsored by Sangguniang Bayan Member Benedict Odsey II, the council and Bontoc Mayor Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr., approved the ordinance recognizing its importance of imposing cleanliness of the capital town. The said ordinance was given green light for implementation by the SangguniangPanlalawigan of Mountain Province through Resolution No. 2024-304.
Under Section 6 of the ordinance, among the prohibited acts include the spitting of betel quid or moma/ moma juice/ concoction in any place other than in the person’s private spitting receptacle carried in a manner that does not cause inconvenience and offense to others; spilling or unsanitary disposing of moma material or spitting receptacle and throwing or leaving used spittoon in public areas except authorized areas; emptying, draining or leaving used spittoon in public areas except in the garbage pit; urinating in any place; disposing of pigsty filth that caused inconvenience to the public; disposing bathroom and kitchen sink washings in public places; bringing children or pet animals to defecate on roads or public places; and not having and not maintaining sanitary trash receptacles.
Further, it was stipulated under Section 7 of the ordinance that it is the civic duty of owners, operators, or occupants of residence, establishments or places of business to maintain the sanitation of their respective premises including the portions of roads, sidewalks, or public places directly or immediately adjacent to their respective premises.
A Penalty shall be imposed for the third Notice to Warning for failure or refusal to comply with the civic duty.
Any violation of the prohibited acts mentioned under Section 6 shall be fined an amount of P1, 000 for the first offense, P1, 500 for the second offense and P2, 500 for the third and succeeding offenses.
In addition, violators of Section 7 of the ordinance shall be fined an amount of P500 for the 4th notice, P750 for the fifth notice and P1, 000 for the sixth notice.
The fine to be paid by the violator shall be equally shared by the Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) and the barangay where the apprehension was made. The 50% share of the Barangay LGU shall be allocated for the meals and allowance of the barangay officials, Barangay Tanods, Green Police, and other functionaries in the effective and sustainable implementation of the ordinance.
Also, it was stated in the ordinance that the public is mandated to participate in all general clean-up drive activities in their respective communities.** Alpine L. Killa-Malwagay, Bontoc LGU
