Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Ordinance requiring IDs of those pawning phones nears approval
THE Cebu City Council has approved on second reading a proposed measure that orders all pawnshops and similar establishments to require valid identification cards from those selling or pawning cell phones.
Passage of the measure is seen to help curb cell phone thefts in the city, especially after the much publicized shooting to death of a nursing student by teenage robbers three weeks before her graduation this month.
The council committee on laws, ordinances, public accountability and good government, through its vice chairman City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, favorably recommended the ordinance proposed by City Councilor Edgardo Labella.
The ordinance requires managers and proprietors of all mobile phone stores and pawnshops to require owners of pawned or sold phones to present a valid ID card.
It also requires all pawnshops and businesses engaged in buying, selling and pawning of second-hand cellular phones to secure permits from the National Telecommunications Commission.
The measure sets a P1,500 fine for first offense; P3,500 for second offense; and P5,000 and/or business permit or license revocation for third offense.
He drafted it as early as August last year, realizing that users have nothing protecting them against those establishments that buy or accept pawned cellular phones without verifying ownership.
Urgent
Three weeks ago, Labella asked colleagues to make the ordinance an urgent measure in the light of the death of nursing student Ruby Jade Ruba, who was shot by robbers who took her phone.
Last Wednesday, the committee suggested that aside from requiring a valid ID, the measure should also require pawnshops to keep a written record of their transactions.
The names and addresses of persons who sell or pawn used cell phones, as well as descriptions and the unique cell phone identifier number, must likewise be recorded.
The committee also cited the problem of cell phones being traded by individuals “without restrictions or regulations.”
“It has been observed that as between individuals, mobile phones are even traded in anonymity,” added the committee that comprises City Councilors Carillo, Hilario Davide III, Eugenio Faelnar and Roberto Cabarrubias.
Labella heads the committee but abstained from participating in crafting the report, being the proposal’s author. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 31, 2008 issue)
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