BACOLOD City Councilor Ricardo Tan urged the City Administrator’s Office and City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to hire the services of certified lifeguards to be deployed to public swimming places.
Tan said the City Government should hire lifeguards for seashores, beaches, creeks and rivers that are frequently visited by residents especially during the feast of St. John the Baptist this coming June 24.
On Holy Week, a pregnant woman and her toddler son drowned along the shoreline of Purok Malipayon, Barangay 35.
The victims went to the shoreline planning to take a swim, and they were swept by strong waves into the sea.
Tan cited Section 16 of the Local Government Code of Republic Act 7160 or the General Welfare Clause provides that every local government unit shall exercise the powers expressly granted, those necessarily implied there from, as well as powers necessary, appropriate, or incidental for its efficient and effective governance, and those which are essential to the promotion of the general welfare.
Within their respective territorial jurisdictions, local government unit shall ensure and support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture, promote health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology, encourage and support the development of appropriate and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, improve public moral, enhance economic prosperity and social justice, promote full employment among their residents, maintain peace and order, and preserve the comfort and convenience of their inhabitants, it further stated.
Tan added that it is the obligation of the City Government to ensure the safety and security of people who go to public swimming places such as seashores and rivers, by seeing to it that sufficient number of qualified lifeguards are deployed.