Councilor wants council to hold outside sessions

CEBU, Philippines —  A Cebu City councilor is pushing for the institutionalization of conducting a quarterly offsite regular sessions of the City Council in different barangays of the city.

Councilor Alvin Dizon, author of the proposed measure, said the purpose of holding offsite regular session is to bring the City Council closer and more accessible to its constituents.

“Offsite regular sessions also enable the members of the City Council to be more grounded and aware of the issues and concerns of various barangays,” read a portion of his proposed measure.

This is one of the first few ordinances proposed by the new members of the 15th Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Dizon’s proposal was referred to the council’s committee on laws, ordinances, and styling for its comments and recommendations.

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

Dizon said those offsite regular sessions in different barangays were properly held and well-received by the barangay officials and constituents.

The holding of offsite regular sessions would help the voters of the city to understand the work and functions of the members of the City Council, he said.

Section 3 of the proposed measure states that the council will hold quarterly offsite regular sessions; the vice mayor and the majority floor leader shall decide on the date and the barangay which will serve as the venue for the quarterly offsite regular session; during the offsite regular session, a public hearing shall be conducted to enable the residents of the barangays to articulate their issues, concerns, or grievances to the City Council.

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

Dizon cited the long-standing research program of the World Bank, the Worldwide Governance indicators capture six dimensions of governance; voice and accountability; political stability and lack of violence; government effectiveness; regulatory quality; rule of law; and control of corruption.

Before the final approval of this measure, it will be subjected to public hearing to invite the interested stakeholders who may have inputs of the subject proposal. – GAN (FREEMAN)