Council eyes sessions in barangays

CEBU, Philippines —  After over two months in office, the Cebu City Council has passed its first ordinance, a measure institutionalizing the conduct of offsite sessions in the city.

During the regular session last Tuesday, City Councilor Alvin Dizon said he is advocating for the passage of the ordinance to make the legislative more accessible to its constituents.

“I am advocating for the passage of the ordinance because the conduct of offsite sessions serves an important democratic function by providing citizens—our constituents and the very source of our mandate—the opportunity for active and good citizenship since it encourages, promotes and advances participatory democracy at the local level,” he told reporters.

Dizon said the purpose of holding offsite sessions is to bring the City Council closer to its constituents, stressing the need for the city to understand better the work and functions of the members of the council.

In the newly-approved measure, the city will appropriate P250 million every year to carry out the implementation of the offsite sessions.

The vice mayor and the majority floor leader will be the one to decide on the date and the barangay where the session will be held.

During an offsite session, Dizon said a public hearing should be conducted to hear the concerns of the residents who are living in the barangay where the session will be held.

“This public hearing shall be referred to as the ‘People’s Hour’ and given the broad range of residents in the barangays, every session shall target specific interest groups or sectors to allow dialogue on the pressing thematic concerns confronting the barangay in particular and the city in general,” he said.

Dizon said the city’s Public Information Office will be tasked to do the live streaming and together with the City Council Secretariat to review and consolidate comments given online.

The 12th City Council conducted regular offsite sessions in Barangays Bonbon, Guba, Talamban, and Luz.

The original proposal was for the holding of regular offsite sessions quarterly. However, Dizon yielded to the request of some members of the City Council that these sessions should not be regular sessions but could be considered special sessions.

In the measure, he cited the long-standing research program of the World Bank that outlined six governance indicators; voice and accountability, political stability and lack of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption.

“In the pursuit of transparency, accountability and strengthening people’s participation in local governance, it is imperative to institutionalize offsite sessions of the Cebu City Council,” he said.

Before the implementation of this ordinance, it needs the final stamp of Mayor Edgardo Labella. — BRP (FREEMAN)