(courtesy of the Province of Batangas official website)
BATANGAS CITY – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), the provincial legislative council, has bannered three vital local legislations from January to May this year.
Batangas public information office chief Jenelyn A. Aguilera said Wednesday that the provincial legislative mill has crafted three important ordinances that were approved from January to May this year.
SP Secretary Benjamin D. Nepales reported that as of May 21, one of the three important pieces of legislation was about addressing vector-borne disease, which the provincial lawmakers extensively studied and reviewed the impacts of the bird flu virus on Batangas’ agriculture sector and the livestock and poultry industry.
Aguilera said the “Provincial Ordinance for the Prevention, Control, Reduction and Mitigation of Vector Borne Diseases in Batangas and for other purposes” aims to eradicate, lessen or control the spread or contagion brought about by disease-carrying vectors such as insects, pests and animal carriers.
The outbreak of bird flu in San Luis, Pampanga on Aug. 11, 2017 led the SP to craft such ordinance.
During the height of bird flu outbreak in Pampanga, the provincial government of Batangas, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA) Calabarzon Regional Office took concrete steps to battle the threat of the bird flu in the province. It implemented precautionary measures such as the establishment of eight strategic quarantine checkpoints and disinfection sites in the province’s major entry points at the height of the bird flu scare.
The provincial government through Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and legislators also held various meetings and dialogues with various agriculture stakeholders and DA and health authorities to ensure a bird flu-free Batangas province.
Another vital ordinance, according to Aguilera, is a local measure amending Provincial Ordinance No. 1 series of 2011, which institutionalized a Holistic Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Management for the Province of Batangas.
This, after the province also experienced a series of tremors including the twin quakes that rocked Mabini and Tingloy towns and affected other parts of Batangas on April 4 and 8, 2017; and the geohazards posed by Taal Volcano, one of the country’s most active volcanos.
She said the ordinance aims to lay down plans, preparedness, actions and response mechanisms in any disaster towards establishing more disaster-resilient communities.
The Calabarzon Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council have recommended Batangas as host site for the 2nd Quarter 2017 Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) in June 2017 to demonstrate how the earthquake-struck province has adopted and implemented pro-active preparedness, response and recovery efforts, that are now integrated in a provincial ordinance.
The province also played host to the 4th Quarter NSED of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in Talisay, Batangas where the volcanic eruption scenario drills and simulation were held in December 2016.
Aguilera added the legislative council has enacted the Ordinance Regulating the Resale of Forfeited, Unregistered Real Properties of the Province of Batangas and other purposes.
She said that this ordinance sets the guidelines for real properties or disposable lands in the province that underwent forfeiture proceedings and are up for public auction.
Meanwhile, Nepales said the provincial legislative council also approved some 294 other resolutions during the January-May period. (Saul Pa-a/PNA)
