By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
The Sangguniang Bayan of La Trinidad has had the good sense of publishing their approved ordinances in this paper from time to time. I just hope that residents of the municipality of whatever background and color find time to read them and give feed back as they see fit.
It should not be a column writer like me, making such pitch. It should be the duty of an information officer of the town or anybody tasked to attend to media concerns. However, I feel it my personal duty to say that. Some ordinances are very relevant, some may not be that relevant. There you are, that statement tells it all. That I, as a concerned resident, have been reading those ordinances. It’s just unfortunate that I did not register my feedbacks earlier.
This time, I am sharing a little bit of my sentiments on just two of the most recent ones published last Feb 11, 2018.
But before that, let me say a few words about the float parade of the strawberry festival last March 17, 2018. The parade seem to be attracting even more tourists this year although the route covered only a short 1-km or so distance. The presence of a lot of curious on-lookers at both sides of road is a testament to this. Tourists had thickened. This did not escape the eye of a telco which provided a “rolling cell site” to accommodate the increased SMS traffic in the area. Since it was made available free without additional fee being required (at least that was what I was made to believe by the telco personal when I asked), I would like to mention their name. It is the Smart Communication. I am not privy to a similar presence by the other big service provider.
Some of the floats are really a sight to behold. They had been obviously thought of months in advance. I can say 3 or 4 stood out over the others. Obviously, real fresh fruits may not be a practical component of such floats unless they are still jauntily hanging on strawberry plants. What could easily be appreciated is the presence of structures that will look like strawberry fruits, or plants. This had been done by some floats.
This year, some floats were again bedecked with flowers making some people wonder if it is still Panagbenga time. It would have been better if such flowers were arranged to provide a semblance of the luscious fruit or the plant, or somebody picking the fruit. Well, La Trinidad is also called the rose capital of the Philippines. It is also the source of most of the flowers used during the Panagbenga festival. Some of the floats indeed impressed a lot of the people, judging from their reactions as the parade was in progress. I don’t know who actually won the best float prize. Congratulations to the barangays (and others) who joined the parade.
I think it is high time now to include another category of the float parade so more floats will be rolling next year. An open category should be added so that more groups outside of the barangays will add luster to the festival itself. They will compete among themselves. That would call for earlier planning, and obviously require more fund.
Now, on to the municipal ordinances. It seems that the Sangguniang Bayan of LT works best during the month when typhoons and rains are usually heaviest. This is the month of August. During this month, the SB passed the most (three) ordinances for a month. Maybe, its time to be home, and not go elsewhere?
Ordinance No. 33-2017 – Identifying and designating “bike lane zones/safe road lane zones” along major thoroughfares in the territorial jurisdiction of the municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet, providing penalty therefor and for other purpose – is an interesting one. Driving along the national highway in LT, and Baguio for that matter, I have always observed that it is very dangerous to bikers and motorcyclists to be in that road. They are forced to dangerously weave in and out of traffic, sometimes to the consternation of other motorists, only because they have no designated lane where they could stay. This ordinance could hopefully provide a relief to those riders, and consequently minimize accidents. The bike lanes require fund but unfortunately, the ordinance did not specifically state that fund will be provided. Seems that this one will have a long slumber before its good intention could be realized. It’s not yet late to remedy it.
Ordinance No. 30-2017 is another ordinance that I think should be given additional attention. While it has so many plus points, it does not contain a specific proviso stating that all soil or any debris arising from excavations should be removed immediately if it causes traffic or it endangers the lives of road users. Better still, it could be made clearer by saying that all excavated materials should be removed from streets, sidewalks, etc within two days after excavations if they cause traffic or endanger lives. This is done in other countries. In fact, in other countries they are not allowed to dump any excavated material, or allow them to stay on any part of the road before 7pm or after 6am.
The SB could also mull on the following: 1. banning any foreign plate to be displayed on the outside body of any vehicle since such plate could distract the attention of witnesses in case of accidents. Besides, prominently displaying plates like California, Australia, Germany and the like will surely indicate the diminished love for oneself or country. You don’t see such display in any progressive country; 2. banning the cutting of roads within a year after it was cemented. It is distressing to see newly cemented roads being cut for any reason such as laying of pipes. After cutting, the road is even left mangled causing accidents in a supposedly road-user friendly street. 3. in consonance to no. 2, the mixing of cements should not be allowed on the road. Just look at a portion of the Pico-Lamtang road. A part of it has jutting concrete right at the middle of the street which was due to unremoved cement after mixing. It was pure laziness or lack of concern for proper work ethics from the contractor. Such may cause flat tire and accidents.
In relation to the Strawberry festival, Benguet Congressman Ronnie Cosalan was very emphatic a few days ago in saying that the only remaining available area at the strawberry farm is owned by BSU. He said that the only way to maintain it as a farmland is through the amendment of the BSU charter. He is therefore clearly saying that he is filing a bill in Congress for the purpose.
In addition, some municipal officials intimated to me that the SB is passing a resolution (or have already passed?) urging BSU not to construct additional buildings at the strawberry farms.
Cosalan’s statement unwittingly appear to indict the municipal government for not doing its job in protecting existing strawberry farms. As to his plan to file a relevant bill? It is totally unnecessary. As part of the BSU family, I have full knowledge of the desire of the school to preserve it even if in the promotion of the farm, its name is almost totally neglected. Its plan is to even improve it, so people could continue to enjoy whatever it could provide in relation to strawberry. The school has actually a hard time convincing other interested parties not to diminish the area because of their requests. The better and faster alternative is to ask BSU’s Board of Regents (BOR) to pass a resolution that no buildings or similar structures should henceforth be put up in the said area.
By law, the BOR is the highest governing body of a state university. It is clothed with enough legal power to decide on important matters such as preservation of an area. What BSU need is help from local LGUs or other relevant agencies to preserve it, or even to improve it.**
