Wednesday, June 06, 2007 Shelter code hits snag over title By Grace L. Plata
THE proposed Davao City ordinance for Land Tenure Security and Urban Services Development, also known as the Shelter Code, failed to breeze past third and final reading, following a contention of Councilor Diosdado Angelo Mahipus Sr. about the title.
This led to the realization that the proposed ordinance was not reviewed by the committee on rules, privileges, and ordinances before it was calendared for the final reading in Tuesday's regular session.
Mahipus, when the proposed ordinance was presented for third and final reading, said he is not comfortable with the "security of tenure" part of the ordinance's title as it could send out the wrong message to the public.
"They might think that the security of tenure is also applicable to the land on which they are informal settlers. It must be made clear that the security of tenure we are talking about is applicable only when they have been relocated," Mahipus said.
A long debate ensued over the title but it came to a halt when some councilors commented that the debate on the matter should have been done during the second reading.
Wading into the fray, Councilor Bonifacio Militar pointed out that the version being presented to them has not even been forwarded for review to committee on rules, privileges, and ordinances.
As per house rules, the proposing committee will endorse the amended draft of the ordinance to the City Council secretariat after the second reading. The secretariat will then forward it to the committee on rules, privileges, and ordinances for review and recommendation for inclusion in calendar of business.
According to committee on rules chair Emmanuel Galicia Sr., the committee was not able to review the ordinance as the secretariat did not forward it to his committee.
He added that some councilors do not put up their proposed ordinances for review by the committee on rules by not specifying in their endorsement to the secretariat that it should be so.
"Ipa-diretso lang nila ug pa-apil sa calendar without stating in the endorsement na kinahanglan pa i-review (They tend to insist that this be calendared without stating in he endorsement that it still has to be reviewed)," Galicia said.
Councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling, chair of the committee on housing, rural and urban development and proponent of the Shelter Code, however, insisted that he has written in his endorsement to the secretariat that the ordinance was subject for review, thus the uproar on the point that house rules were not followed.
Vice Mayor Luis Bonguyan interfered, saying that the matter should be deferred with Galicia making a motion that his committee convenes after the session to review pressing ordinances including the Shelter Code so that it can be included in the calendar of business for 3rd reading during the next session.
On the other hand, the Shelter Code Alliance (SCA) said they were slighted with Galicia's remark that the Shelter Code breezed through the second reading because the council was pressured by the urban poor groups.
It can be recalled that the Shelter Code passed second reading a week before the elections.
"The urban poor sector has been persistent in lobbying and advocating to have a policy legislated in answer to their demand for security of land tenure. It is the people's right to firmly support and advance their sectoral interests and concerns. The council should not blame the people for putting pressure on their shoulders since it is their tasks to legislate policies especially those that concern people's issues - with or without the people rallying behind the backs," the SCA said in a written statement.
SCA added that "maybe they were pressured" because the councilors were thinking of the people's votes when they passed the Shelter Code in the second reading."
