MEMBERS of the Task Force Youth and Development in Baguio City have urged the local government to provide more information on the details of the Anti-graffiti and other ordinances.
In their two-day Youth Summit on Leadership through Character Building and Entrepreneurial Development at the Baguio Convention Center, youth members of the task force created a format which allowed them to search for solutions to existing problems in their different barangays including graffiti.
City Council Secretary Atty. Brenner Bengwayan explained the objectives of the two day summit is to empower the youth to develop their skills and achieve their full potential to their community development and improvement, aside from strengthening their leadership skills by developing their mindset for positive change.
On the Anti-Graffiti Code of the City, members of the youth task force have been given the definition of graffiti vandalism as “any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, painting or defacement is written, marked, etched, scratched, sprayed, drawn, painted or engraved on or otherwise affixed, to the extent that the graffiti was not authorized in advance by the owner or occupant of the property, or despite advance authorization, is otherwise deemed a public nuisance.”
Among the recommendations formulated by the youth task force were the creation a freedom wall for graffiti inspired individuals to express their artistic influences, encourage artistic competition in the barangay level, strengthen security in graffiti prone areas, and to create a form of text hotlines to alert barangay officials and the police of would be vandals.
The youth were also informed on the penalties for graffiti vandals found violating the law to be fined P1,000 or imprisonment of one to 10 days.
"The Youth Summit also seeks to engage the youth to take the leadership role in organizing community based activities which promotes positive lifestyles and car among others, and to create a feedback mechanism from the participants for inputs to legislative measures promoting the welfare of the youth," Bengwayan said.
The summit also encouraged the youth to create planning and budgeting methods which would support their programs and projects in their respective barangays, and to strengthen their community involvement in youth oriented planning programs.