Council hires assistant to track enforcement of city ordinances

CEBU, Philippines - An effective implementation of all city ordinances is expected to happen starting next month following the City Council’s hiring of a veteran legislative assistant to keep track of its enforcement.

The council hired Roy Alix, brother of Councilor Christopher Alix, effective July 1 to head its research and monitoring division. Alix is currently an executive assistant of Councilor Arsenio Pacaña.

Alix will supervise the division which task is to track down the enacted ordinances that were not implemented because the enforcers do not know about them. Part of Alix’s responsibility as head of the search and monitoring division is to hold seminars for the law enforcers to know about it.

The law provides that it is the duty of the mayor to hold constant seminars for the police to know the local ordinances that can be implemented by them. Alix will report directly to the council secretary Jose Marie Poblete. He promised to render quarterly reports of his accomplishments.

Although said division has been created long time ago, but it was not properly filled up with a personnel whose task is to monitor and assess the enforcement of all ordinances and to provide the councilors and their staff with the necessary legislative support by assisting them in research and other studies that will serve as vital inputs for legislation.

Alix, who used to be the executive assistant of his brother-councilor, then to Councilor Edgardo Labella and now with Pacaña, has observed that there were several referrals to the different committees of the City Council that were not acted upon. He said his division will also provide assessment and evaluation for purposes of identifying the appropriate legislative responses required of resolutions, ordinances and other legislative matters referred to the concerned committee.

The council was adjudged as the best legislative body nationwide because of its codification of all approved ordinances since 1940’s. Alix said he will try his best so the Cebu Cty Council will again become the best legislative body nationwide.

Alix said if he believes that a particular ordinance is no longer appropriate now, he will recommend that it will be repealed or to make some amendments in order to make them useful.

The records show that there are more than 1,000 existing city ordinances, but many of them were not implement because the people and the police do not know about them.   (FREEMAN NEWS)