BAGUIO CITY July 26 – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance requiring natural or juridical persons applying for a permit to excavate in the city to post a cash bond to guarantee the restoration of the area excavated, among others, before the necessary excavation permit will be issued, subject to all legal and existing rules and regulations.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Leandro B. Yangot Jr. said that it will soon be a policy of the City Government to impose this requirement to guarantee the restoration of excavated areas.
Under the proposed ordinance, applicants for excavation permit shall post a cash bond of P30,000 for the first 50 linear meters, P100,000 for more than 50 linear meters but not exceeding 200 linear meters; P250,000 for more than 200 linear meters but not exceeding 600 linear meters and P500,000 for more than 600 linear meters.
However, Yangot proposed that the excavation activities shall not be more than 200 linear meters at a time, measured longitudinally; excavation of succeeding sections shall be allowed only after the restoration of the immediately preceding excavated section to its original condition.
The proposal states that the cash bond shall be paid to the City Treasury Office and shall be treated as a trust fund to answer for costs of restoration of the affected pavement or if the contractor fails to restore the said pavement within the period of 5 days after completion of the job.
Penalties for expired excavation permits and violation of the terms and conditions of the permit shall be computed at the rate of P5,000 per day and such other damages and expenses that may be incurred by the city government and third persons as a result of or due to the failure of the applicant to restore the area excavated to its original state.
The cash bond shall be withdrawn after 30 days from the time the restoration was completed as certified by the City Engineer and upon presentation of a certificate of completion duly noted by the chairman of the barangay having jurisdiction over the affected area.
Any natural or juridical person found violating the pertinent provisions of the ordinance shall be penalized with a fine of P5,000 per violation.
Yangot cited that it has been observed that numerous excavations in the city were virtually abandoned by contractors which is a gross violation of their respective undertakings to immediately restore the areas excavated to its original state and quality.
He asserted that it is necessary and proper to impose stringent rules and regulations in order to ensure the prompt and appropriate restoration of excavated areas in different parts of the city.**By Dexter A. See
