Thursday, October 04, 2007 Editorial: Shelter Code
THE proposed Comprehensive Urban Shelter and Services Development Code of Davao City, otherwise known as the Shelter Code, passed second reading by the Davao City Council last Tuesday with minor amendments but not before four weeks of being scrutinized section by section.
Sections 21 to 26 were approved after certain points were clarified, particularly provisions on establishing a trust fund earmarked for housing projects.
Section 22 provides that the city housing authority will be the implementing arm of the program while the soon-to-be established Local Housing Board would be the policy-making body.
Section 23 mandates coordination of special committees while sections 24 to 26 stipulate standard requirements on publication and effectivity.
Councilor Arnolfo Rocardo Cabling, chair of the City Council committee on housing, rural and urban development--proponent of the Shelter Code, is confident that this time the City Legal Office would not find in the proposed ordinance infirmities which caused the first proposed Shelter Code in the past council to be vetoed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Cabling bared that prior to recommending the veto, City Legal Officer J. Melchor Quitain called him up and suggested to only have the corrected points incorporated and pass it under suspended rules.
The old and new members of the City Council this time did more than just passing it on suspended rules; they opted to take it up as if it was an entirely new proposal "so that the body can really appreciate the full content of the ordinance through discussion," Cabling said.
Second reading approval means the ordinance is virtually passed because third reading is but a formality where the new ordinance's title is announced as a duly approved ordinance.
No wonder groups that lobbied for the code are euphoric over the approval of what may be considered the first landmark legislation of the current (15th) Council.
Of course, the economics involved in the Code will be known only after the city mayor's office shall have proposed the budget for its implementation. This time the City Council is expected to exercise even more due diligence by scrutinizing this proposal as it involves taxpayer's money.
While the Philippine Senate, presently mired in an investigation ostensibly in aid of legislation, still has to come up with a landmark law of its own four months after the 2007 elections, the Davao City Council continues to make its existence relevant as expected by its constituents. Bravo.
