THE Baguio Regreening Movement led by a former city councilor has filed a petition to fast track the approval of the draft Environment Code that will govern developments in Baguio.
Bearing over 200 signatories, the petition explained no provision of existing city ordinances are in conflict with the draft provisions of the code.
For the past sessions of the City Council, the BRM have been attending the legislative meeting to shed light on the draft code but members of the city council have been deleting provisions that are deemed redundant with existing local laws.
With the petition, the BRM hopes the council will finally approve the code before the change of administration.
Recently, the City Council removed provisions on mining activities and building height restrictions included in the proposed code.
Provisions on mining were for the reason that only Mines View and Kias areas remain covered with mineral sharing agreement according to the Environment Management Bureau.
Because there are no mining activities outside the identified areas, the City Council deemed it proper to remove the mining provision since this was already covered by the Zoning Ordinance of Baguio.
Also removed from the proposed code were the restrictions on the building heights pending the amendment of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Clup).
The code includes Baguio, and municipalities of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay (BLISTT) for the management of resources for the use of each area.
The draft Environment Code has been pending in the city council for over nine years under the Committee on Environment then chaired by Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia who now leads the BRM.