BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance requiring all owners or lessors or sub-lessors of residential units for rent in the city to register their lessee or occupant with their respective barangays and providing penalties for violators of the local legislative measure.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Joel Alangsab stated that the provisions of the measure shall apply to all owners or lessors or sub-lessors of residential units for rent, whether natural or juridical, whether resident or not, and in all places found within the territorial jurisdiction of the city.
The ordinance provided owners or lessors or sub-lessors of residential units in the city shall register their lessee or sub-lessee in their respective barangay within a period of 30 days from the effectivity of the local legislative measure.
For new lessees or sub-lessees or occupants after the effectivity of the ordinance, they shall also be registered with the concerned barangays within 10 days from occupancy of the residential unit.
The ordinance mandated the Secretary of the Barangay to keep a record of the said registration which shall consist of the complete name and address of the owner, lessor, sub-lessor, name and provincial address of the lessee or sub-lessee, one photo copy of the identification card of the lessee or sub-lessee, contact number of the registrants and their employer and complete address of the employer.
If the lessee or sub-lessee consists of a family, the ordinance stated the head of the family shall be the one to be registered.
Subject to the requirements of due process, violators of the provisions of the ordinance shall be fined P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense and P1,500 for the third and subsequent offenses.
The proposed resolution requires the barangay officials to shall strictly implement the ordinance and tasked and authorized to cite violators of the measure.
The ordinance added 50 percent of the fines collected by the concerned barangays shall accrue to their respective general funds while the remaining 50 percent will be remitted to the City Treasury Office every 30th day of the month.
The City Mayor, the City Treasurer and the barangay concerned shall enter into an agreement anent the sharing of the proceeds from the administrative penalties imposed on the violators of the provisions of the ordinance.
Violators shall be informed of their violations and the penalty associated with it by means of a citation ticket system.
Upon effectivity of the ordinance, the concerned barangay shall put up billboards in strategic places within their territorial jurisdiction to notify the public of the restrictions and sanctions imposed by the measure.
By Dexter A. See