City lawyers propose changes to MCDCB memo

CEBU, Philippines - To avoid ambiguity, the Cebu City Legal Office has recommended amending some provisions of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board’s agreement with civil society and private sector organizations in the implementation of projects.

Lawyer Carlo Vincent Gimena of the city legal office said parties that are not signatories to the memorandum cannot undertake and implement projects of MCDCB.

“The implementation of the specific programs and projects shall be undertaken by the parties herein, in as much as the subject MOA binds only the parties thereto, not strangers,” a two-page legal opinion reads.

Paragraph 7 of the MOA provides that implementation of specific programs and projects will be undertaken by the local government units themselves or by the concerned government agencies or in partnership with civil society and private sector organizations.

Gimena contented that the said entities “are too broad, which may refer to those entities who are not parties to this MOA.”

He added that proper acknowledgement should be indicated in the agreement and that the parties must have authorization from the city or provincial board authorizing their respective representatives to execute or sign an agreement on their behalf in order to duly bind them.

“It is likewise suggested that as regards to MCDCB members/parties who are local government units, appropriate ordinances be passed for the creation of former,” he said.

Public hearings must also be conducted, especially that operations of the MCDCB would be supported through financial contributions from the member-local government units, grants, donations, national government appropriations, and other sources, he said.

The MCDCB is a coordinating body for metro-wide planning and development created on April 1, 2011 through a MOA signed by local government executives, heads of national government agencies, and leaders of the private – civil society sector.

It was created to establish, strengthen, and institutionalize, by mutual agreement and beyond administrative and political tenure and terms of officers, inter-local and public-private sector collaboration for the planning and development of Metro Cebu covering the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Danao, Carcar and Naga; the municipalities of Compostela, Liloan, Consolacion, Cordova, Minglanilla, and San Fernando and the Province of Cebu.

These cities and municipalities will then be committed to an integrated development; urban and land use planning and zoning; transport and traffic management; pollution control and solid waste management; flood control; drainage and sewerage management; urban renewal and shelter provision; health and sanitation; public safety; road improvement and infrastructure development; coastal resources; watershed; and environmental management; disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation to achieve integrated, inclusive, and sustained development of Metropolitan Cebu, among others.  (FREEMAN)