BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
An ordinance establishing the Sum-ag River as a tourist destination, creating a committee for its maintenance and preservation, was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod Wednesday.
The ordinance to be known as the “Sum-ag River Ordinance,” will cover the Sum-ag River stretching from the boundary between Bacolod City and Bago City up to the mouth of the river meeting the Guimaras Strait.
It provides for the creation of the Sum-ag River Council that will implement and monitor the ordinance, and will be composed of the City Mayor as chairman, and SP Committee on Tourism and Committee on Health and Environment chairmen as vice chair.
Its members will be composed of the City Tourism Officer, City Engineer, City Planning and Development Officer, City Budget Officer, City Environment and Natural Resources Officer, General Services Office, Public Information Office, and Public Order Safety Office.
Any person caught in violation of Section 5, paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of Article 5 of the ordinance will, upon conviction, be meted with P1,000 or 15 days of community service for the first offense, and P2,000 and 15 days of community service for the succeeding offenses.
The ordinance also provides penalties for any person, judicial or natural, caught in violation of Section 5 (d) of Art 5 of the ordinance.
The ordinance will require an annual funding of at least P500,000 subject to increase and will be part of the City Development Plan to be funded from the 20 percent Annual Investment Plan.
It was authored by Councilor Jason Isidro Villarosa and co-authored by Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson.*
