THE City Council passed on first reading a proposed ordinance promoting crime awareness and security in all learning institutions’ campuses within the territorial jurisdiction of the city.
Authored by Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr., the measure cites article 2, section 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution saying the maintenance of peace and order, protection of life, liberty and property and promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all people in a democracy.
It also mentions a provision of the Local Government Code of 1991 where it empowers the Sangguniang Panlungsod to enact measures to prevent and suppress lawlessness, disorder, riot, violence, rebellion, or sedition and impose penalties for the violations of these measures.
“In some schools in the city, incidents of bullying, frat wars, death, physical harm and incapacity inflicted to members and non-members continue to hound the public, more so, the families victimized by either fraternity-related violence or any other cause,” the ordinance alleges.
The proposed measure seeks to establish a program that would provide adequate and updated information for students, parents or guardians and the community of the city’s learning institutions on their safety, security policies and procedures.
If approved, the ordinance orders every eligible campus to collect, prepare, publish and distribute through appropriate publications to all current students and employees and to any applicant for enrollment or employment upon request, an annual security report containing information on campus security policies and crime statistics.
The City Mayor’s office will review the statistics and task the city council’s committee on education in coordination with representatives of higher education institutions, to identify exemplary campus security policies, procedures and practices that have proven effective in the reduction of campus criminality.
“No institution should deny an alleged victim of any crime of violence, the result of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by the institution against the alleged perpetrator with respect to the crime,” the ordinance states. (Gaby Keith/PIO and Denver Ebba/PIO Intern)
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