EDITORIALS
The Lions Club civic
center within Burnham Park in Baguio City is now a bone of contention among
city councilors who want the dispute over its use settled.
The city council is set
to decide if it will request the Cordillera office of the Dept. of Tourism to
review the memorandum of agreement entered by the local government and the
Lions Club of Baguio, Inc. for use of a parcel of land within Burnham Park
complex for the Lions Club civic center.
Some local legislators
proposed the referral of the agreement to the DOT-CAR for review, the agency
being the owner of the property. Executive Order No. 224, series of 1995
authorized the local government to administer, manage and operate Burnham Park
which was subsequently strengthened by Executive Order No. 695, series of 2009.
Earlier, Mayor Mauricio
G. Domogan transmitted to the city council for confirmation the MOA between the
local government and Lions Club, Inc. for use of a parcel of land within
Burnham Park complex for construction of a Lions Club civic center.
The crafting of the
agreement was pursuant to Audit Observation Memorandum No. 17-010 dated 08
March 2017 of the Commission on Audit – Cordillera Administrative Region on operation
and management of Burnham Park reservation wherein it was discovered the Lions
Clubhouse in the complex was not covered by an agreement, according to a city
hall report.
The city council also
directed the City Environment and Parks Management Office and City Building
Office to inspect structures in the area to ascertain their structural
integrity among other safety concerns and for said offices to submit an
inventory on actual use of the facilities.
The city council also requested
the Lions Club, Inc. to submit its financial statement over the last five years
to serve as a basis in assessing how the club was able to use the property.
The previous members of
the local legislative body approved Resolution No. 49, series of 1970 which
granted the Lions Club of Baguio exemption from payment of building permit fee
and all fees in connection with
construction of its clubhouse building; provided that upon completion of said
building, the Baguio City library will be housed therein free of charge.
Local legislators
attempted to pass a resolution to regulate the use by the Lions Club, Inc. of
the property but the motion was deferred for further discussion.
The former Philippine
Tourism Authority tried to work out issuance of a Presidential Proclamation for
segregation of the area occupied by the Lions Club for use of the civic
organization but the same was overtaken by events.
The Lions Club civic
center is now being used by numerous civic and religious organizations for
their activities allowing the organization to generate funds for their civic
activities.
Comelec on
political advertisements
The Commission on
Elections warned candidates in the midterm polls to follow the required size
for campaign posters even as political advertisements are allowed on public
utility vehicles (PUVs).
Comelec Commissioner
Rowena Guanzon said political ads should not exceed 2 x 3 feet for posters and
8.5 x 11 inches for stickers.
These campaign materials
should be placed at the back of the PUVs, Guanzon said.
“These vehicles are
private properties, but the Comelec has the authority to regulate campaign
materials,” she said. Guanzon said posting of campaign posters in private buildings
and houses is also allowed provided that the required size is observed and it
has the permission of the owners.
“Otherwise, campaign
materials should be displayed in common poster areas designated by the
Comelec,” she said.
Under Comelec Resolution
No. 10488, Guanzon said state-owned transportation facilities such as Metro
Rail Transit, Light Rail Transit and Philippine National Railways are
prohibited from displaying political advertisements.
No comments:
Post a Comment