Council double-times to pass ordinances

CEBU, Philippines — It will be a busy two weeks for the Cebu City Council as they are now doubling their efforts on the remaining piled-up city ordinances, aiming to pass these during the last two sessions before the new set of legislators come in.

This according to Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, majority floor leader of the City Council, who admitted they still have a pile of pending ordinances to tackle for approval.

After the midterm elections, the City Council conducted a series of public hearings and approved the remaining ordinances. This Wednesday during the regular session, Pesquera said this will continue as they are set to hear more committee reports and deliberate on more pending ordinances up for second and third readings.

Specifically, she said that this Wednesday they will have to tackle the approval of at least six ordinances, with 10 more in the next session.

For those ordinances that were just submitted for committee reports, Pesquera said they may have to be resubmitted through the new set of council members. The referral to the committee report is among the first phases when an ordinance is filed before the council to get the majority’s approval.

Pesquera said they could now only accommodate ordinances up for second reading, stressing that this stage is closer to final deliberation.

So far, Pesquera said there are no heavyweight ordinances for prioritization before the council, aside from the Comprehensive Revision of the Zoning Ordinance, which recently underwent a public hearing last week. However, Pesquera, who sponsored the ordinance, recommended deferring the discussion on the matter and decided that the incoming council reopen its undertaking for approval.

As Pesquera failed to make a comeback in the recently concluded elections, she admitted that she has no idea to whom she will turn over the refiling of the zoning ordinance, adding that it will take a lot of work.

"Naa may documents. Whoever is willing to take over, I can just give the soft copy," said Pesquera.

She, however, said she will have to bring this up to the body and consider the suggestions of whoever among the incoming councilors would like to sponsor the proposed ordinance and bring it to the table for discussion.

Last Wednesday, the Cebu City Council heard from different sectors regarding their positions on the proposed ordinance entitled the “Revised Comprehensive Cebu City Zoning Ordinance of 2025.”

Before the public hearing began, Pesquera explained that the ordinance seeks to revise the 1996 Zoning Ordinance, noting that it has been approximately 30 years since the last revision.

Over time, she added there have already been several amendments to the ordinance, including declaring certain areas in the city as socialized housing sites and designating others, particularly in Barangay Parian and the South Road Properties, as a design district.

Pesquera further said in 2006 the then-members of the council approved the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, but it was not incorporated into the zoning ordinance.

She stressed that what had been approved was merely the map of the city and the classifications, but not the proper implementation. Ten years later, she said, another land use plan was submitted by the City Planning Office. Prior to its approval, a series of executive sessions were conducted to fully deliberate the matter, encompassing the opinions of various sectors.

"So bali, busy week pa gihapon g’yud namo ‘ron even winding up na mi, busy week pa," said Pesquera.

According to Pesquera, these proposed ordinances have piled up toward the last stretch of their terms, as most council members campaigned before the elections.

"We have to understand that the councilors are all busy during the campaign and then wala pa (submit) ang committee reports, kay kung wala pay committee reports dili man g’yud nato mapa-second reading ang proposed ordinances," said Pesquera.

Those ordinances that can no longer be carried over by the present council shall be considered dead unless another councilor in the incoming councilor will take over and refile them.

Despite doubling their time, Pesquera assures that the City Council is also maintaining keenness on the details of the proposals, stressing that they went through a series of deliberations, discussions, and study.  — (FREEMAN)