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Legazpi mayor suspends barangay visitor registration

By Mar Serrano

October 2, 2017, 5:56 pm

LEGAZPI CITY -- Mayor Noel Rosal on Monday suspended his executive order (EO) requiring all individuals, who will be staying for 24 hours or more in homes of relatives or friends, to register in logbooks in various barangay offices in the city.

Rosal, in an interview after Monday’s flag ceremony here, said he deferred the implementation of the order and brought his executive order for review and further refinement by the legal officer in consultation with members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

“I will submit this EO for further review and ask the SP to possibly introduce and pass a city ordinance regarding this,” he said.

Rosal clarified that the EO does not carry a PHP1,000 fine for villagers who fail to register their visitor’s name in the logbook, as earlier reported by media.

He also made it clear the EO does not apply to hotels and other similar lodging houses.

Rosal’s EO No. 36-2017 issued last August 22 directs the 70 village chiefs in the city to create and maintain a record of all individuals who are non-residents of their barangay.

The record should indicate the names, duration, and purpose of travel or stay of the visitors.

City residents opposed the order calling it a violation of their constitutional rights to travel, abode, and privacy.

Edre Olalia, president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), and NUPL Albay chapter president Bart Rayco supported the complaints of residents and dismissed the EO as curtailing the constitutional rights of every individual.

Rosal, in an earlier interview, said the directive is to achieve a crime- and drug-free country. (PNA)

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