Hearing on food ordinance held

Saturday, February 11, 2012

THE Davao City Council conducted Wednesday its first public hearing on the proposed Street Food Ordinance highlighting some of its key rationale and benefits.

Councilor Bernard Al-ag, chair of the City Council committee on health, said the first public hearing was attended by various stakeholders including representatives from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that conducted the study.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

Aside from DOST representatives, the city was represented by City Health Office (CHO) chief Dr. Josephine Villafuerte.

Al-ag said he sees the urgency and the need of the ordinance to be approved as soon as possible as this will regulate the street food selling in the city.

The councilor said he hopes the proposed Street Food Ordinance will get his colleagues' nod before the end of this year.

Among the salient features of the proposed ordinance include the creation of a new division under the City Health Office (CHO) that will look into the implementation of the law as well as the mandatory registration of all street food vendors with the City Government.

Should the ordinance get the City Council's nod, all street food vendors in Davao City will have to undergo regular training on food preparation, handling, preparation, as well as entrepreneurship and accounting.

"It will provide financial assistance to the street food vendors after they completed the training," Al-ag said.

Other key features of the ordinance include the determination of the proper location and time where the street food vendors be allowed to sell their products and it will also allow registered and trained street food vendors to participate in the City Government-sponsored festivals and other tourism activities. (Jereco O. Paloma)