A DAVAO City Councilor clarified that endorsement or resolution coming from the local legislative council is not a prerequisite for telecommunication companies (telcos) before they can construct their cell towers.
Councilor Jesus Joseph Zozobrado made the clarification following the issuance of Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1 series of 2020, signed on July 23 by different national agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).
The JMC, titled “Streamlined Guidelines for the Issuance of Permits, Licenses and Certificates for the Construction of Shared Passive Telecommunications Tower Infrastructures (PTTIs)," is pursuant to the directive of the president to curb red tape and corruption, as well as to streamline the processes for the issuance of permits, licenses and clearances, particularly with respect to shared PTTIs.
Section 6.5 of the JMC ordered that Sangguniang Panlungsod/Bayan Resolution and Sangguniang Barangay Resolution/ Barangay Council Resolution will no longer be required.
Zozobrado clarified that the City Government has not required telcos to secure any endorsement from the City Council, as it is not stated under the Ordinance No. 0463-13 or “An ordinance providing for the regulation of the construction and maintenance of cellular towers for mobile phone services in the City of Davao.”
"We do not give nor require endorsement from the City Council, especially in the construction of cell site towers," he said.
What telcos need from the Council is to secure a three-fourth or majority vote for the endorsement of additional allowable use, mandated under Ordinance No. 0546-14 Series of 3013 or the “Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of Davao City,” Zozobrado said.
"Let us be clear that the zoning ordinance or law is different from the thinking or understanding that it is a mere resolution or endorsement as a prerequisite for building permits in putting up cell towers," he said.
Under the zoning ordinance, the councilor said an additional allowable use must be secured for telcos to construct their cell towers in areas in the city that are only intended for either agricultural, industrial or residential purposes.
Councilor Conrado Baluran said on August 18 that there is a need to amend the city's ordinances to be aligned with the issued JMC.
"We cannot just simply say or treat it as a controlling law without amending our zoning ordinance if it is the intention," Zozobrado said, adding they will be excluding construction of cell towers on the purposes that needed to secure an endorsement from the council once the Zoning Ordinance will be amended.
Zozobrado said the committee on transportation and communication, committee on housing, rural and urban development (low-end projects), and the committee on rules, privileges, laws and ordinances will be conducting a joint hearing to address this mandate.
He said they are intending to amend the ordinance as soon as possible.
Baluran and fellow councilor Danilo Dayanghirang have been lobbying for the amendment of the city's ordinances in regulating the construction of cell towers in the city to attract telcos to construct more cell towers here.
Baluran also said some areas in Davao City remain as a “dead spot” due to poor telecommunication signals, particularly in far-flung barangays of District 2 and 3, and remain extremely distressed despite emerging telecommunication advancement.