Osmeña junks proposal to create City Ordinance Enforcement Commission

Mayor Tomas Osmeña is not keen on reviving the ordinance that created the Cebu City Ordinance Enforcement Commission, the body that is tasked to ensure that all local laws are fully implemented.

Osmeña yesterday said the commission is not really necessary because ensuring the implementation of all ordinances passed by the City Council is itself part of the council’s job.

“It’s simply not acceptable, that’s the job of the entire City Council,” Osmeña said.

He contended that ensuring the implementation of ordinances is part of legislation, the primary job of the councilors.

Osmeña explained that this is also the reason why the councilors are made to handle different committees so that they can help ensure that the ordinances that are in line with the committees they handle are properly implemented.

“That commission is doing their job for them… why can’t they organize this among themselves? They have vehicles, they have their staff, I’ve allowed them executive powers…that’s why they are divided into committees… that’s why they occupy one third of the office space in city hall,” Osmeña said.

The mayor said he is fed up with the many committees and commissions at the City Hall because being in these groups hampers the regular jobs of the employees.

“This is what bureaucracy is all about,” he said.

Osmeña had since ordered that the meeting of the committees and commissions should not be within office hours.

The council is looking into reviving Ordinance Number 1241, which created the Cebu City Ordinance Enforcement Commission- a four-man team tasked to digging up the ordinances that need to be fully implemented, re-implemented or revised, and prioritized.

Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, the proponent of the move, said the commission has been in active for a long time already since it was enacted 21 years ago in 1987. He said it is about time that it be re-implemented because it is beneficial to the city.

He said the ordinance addresses the present concerns of the city because there have been many ordinances in the recent years that have not been fully implemented.

“I want to reenact this ordinance because it’s much needed now…there are a lot of ordinances that were created for very noble purposes but were not properly implemented or nakalimtan,” Jakosalem said, referring to ordinances that deal with public order and safety.

Jakosalem’s proposal came just as Councilor Augustus Pe queried during the council’s regular session last Wednesday if the city has a standing mechanism that would ensure that all laws passed by the council are indeed properly implemented. —  Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM