Sunday, April 13, 2008 Foreign firms required to translate signage into English By Ian Ocampo Flora
ANGELES CITY -- To foster understanding and thwart "unscrupulous" foreign businesses here, the City Council approved last Tuesday an ordinance requiring all foreign business to translate their billboards and signage into English.
Ordinance 225, series of 2008, sponsored by Councilors Jesus Sangil, Ruben Maniago, and Arvin Suller, aims to require all foreign business establishments in this city to translate their signage and billboards into English.
According to Sangil, establishments may still use foreign characters and words, provided that they also translate them in English.
He explained that the ordinance would enable Filipinos and other nationalities to understand the signage and billboards of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, or other establishments that use their regional or national alphabets.
"It is utter disrespect towards us that there are foreign establishments here doing business and we do not understand their signage and boards," he said, adding that the ordinance also aims to thwart illegal business in the city.
The ordinance also requires advertisements in foreign characters or inscriptions translated into English.
Sangil said the ordinance is expected to be received favorably by foreign-owned and controlled firms.
"Sometimes we see poster and advertisements in foreign characters but we could not understand them. This ordinance provides that they be translated in English so that everybody could understand them," he added.
Violators of the ordinance will be fined P2,500 and their signage or billboard will be removed on the first offense. Second time offenders, on the other hand, will be fined P5,000 and be slapped with a one month suspension of the establishment's business permit.
Sangil said the ordinance is effective in the entire city with specific emphasis on the Friendship Road at the southwest boarder of the city near Clark Freeport. The area is filled with mostly Korean and some Japanese establishments.
He said majority of the signage do not have English translation.
