Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has ordered the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) to strictly implement the anti-vandalism ordinance in the city.
Lawyer Caesar Distrito, spokesperson of Benitez, said Thursday, April 4, that they will take active measures against the widespread proliferation of vandalism in Bacolod.
He said the mayor will create a taskforce against vandalism that will be composed by all barangay captains, BCPO director, the 10 police station commanders, Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Public Order and Safety Office (Poso), Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
He added that some of the walls in various barangays are being vandalized and most of the violators were minors.
Bacolod has an ordinance prohibiting the acts of vandalism and imposing penalties for violation of the law, and for other purposes.
Penalties for such violations include a fine of P1,000 for the first offense, P3,000 for the second offense, and P5,000, plus imprisonment of not less than 30 days, but not more than six months, depending on the gravity of the infraction, to be determined by the court, for the third offense.
For violators aged 15 and below, civil liability will be shouldered by the parents, but those 15 to 18 years old, will be made to restore the property and be required to render service to the school, if enrolled, or render community service to the barangay, the ordinance further stated.
Distrito said the mayor also tasked the DSSD to to take charge of the handling of the minor violators.
He noted that the city government is looking at putting up an Expression or Freedom Walls in different vacant areas of the city where the vandals are free to express their emotions and opinions as a form of self-expression.
Distrito said the mayor is also suggesting to the BCPO to identify the gang and graffiti artists by meeting them.
"Mayor Albee is urging the different barangays to conduct clean up drives and repainting operations in partnership with various youth groups and gangs with the police," he said.
Moreover, aside from the BCPO and DSSD, Distrito said the mayor also directed the barangays and Sangguniang Kabataan to strictly enforce the curfew ordinance for minors.*