THE laws and ordinances in Davao City will never be compromised just to attract more investors and tourists to come to the city.

Davao City Investors and Promotion Center (DCIPC) head Lemuel Ortonio, said during the i-Speak media forum on Thursday, October 11, said that if the city will allow even one exemption for the sake of investments and tourism, the ordinance will never be effective afterwards.

“We always emphasize [that the] laws and ordinances [we have] locally, here in Davao City, will never be bent or compromised to invite a certain type of investments,” Ortonio said, pertaining to some concerns raised by investors specifically on tourism facilities where some tourists may be smokers or if the facility will involve a lot of drinking.

The city has implemented an anti-smoking ordinance and DCIPC said that some investors backed out because of it.

“We still have to follow. Bisag unsa pa na kadako ang inyong isulod sa city, we still have to follow (We still have to follow the laws and ordinances no matter how big the investments will be),” Ortonio said.

Ortonio said the exemption, for instance on anti-smoking and liquor bans, may be a precedent for others to also violate the regulations in the city.

“Naa lang ta’y bisag isa kabuok na i-exemptt, the rest will follow (IF we exempt even just one, the rest will follow),” he said.

“It will then be very difficult to implement kung unsa tong mga nasugdan (It will then be very hard to the city to implement those regulations we have),” he added.