Dagupan OKs own health, sanitation code
THE Dagupan City Council passed the city’s comprehensive health and sanitation code in its regular session on Monday, a move that City Health Officer Leonardo Carbonell described as a “milestone in legislation”.
Carbonell hailed the sanitation code, authored by Councilors Jesus Canto and Michael Fernandez, which incorporated all national laws and existing city ordinances dealing on health and sanitation.
The new law’s overall objective is to improve the city’s environmental condition and the people’s health.
“It is a milestone in legislation because there are only a few cities with existing sanitation code and happily, Dagupan is now one of them,” he said in the interview.
He said the health and sanitation code, the first of its kind, addresses practically all problems related to health and sanitation in the city, covering all homes, businesses, including the food chains. It provides guidelines for food and water handling.
“This will serve as a bible on health and sanitation concerns that are relevant now, up till 20 years after,” he said.
The code was drafted by the council in line with the Sustainable Sanitation in East Asia (SUSCEA) project that included Dagupan City as a pilot area.
Carbonell said he inserted in the code a septic management policy outlining the proper way to construct toilets and septic tanks for homes, offices and factories to prevent contamination of the aquifer.
Further, under the code, sanitation laws can now be enforced not only by sanitary inspectors of the city health office but also by officials of other government agencies including the police, Public Order and Safety Office and barangay tanods.-LM
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