Lim vetoes tricycle franchise ordinance
City Hall, SP rift intensifies
THE executive-legislative imbroglio in Dagupan involving Mayor Benjamin Lim and the majority of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) appears headed for worse before it gets any better.
Last week, Lim vetoed an ordinance of the city council granting franchises to at least 23 operators of motorized tricycles-for-hire in the city saying this is a function of the executive branch.
The ordinance in question, No. 1957-2010, was vetoed by the mayor in its entirety for allegedly encroaching on executive prerogatives.
In his letter dated August 26 to the SP through Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer Belen Fernandez, Lim said: “The acts of screening and evaluating the qualifications of applicants for tricycle franchise and processing requirements (for said purpose) are purely administrative and executive functions, which the legislative branch is encroaching upon.”
The mayor also assailed in his letter SP Resolution No. 653-2010, which approved 126 applications for a tricycle franchise.
The mayor said this resolution merely expresses the sentiments of the members of the SP and does not have the force and effect of a law.
LOCAL GOV’T CODE
However, Fernandez has expressed her disagreement to Lim’s stance, citing a provision of the Local Government Code.
The vice mayor said Article Three, Section 458, Paragraph VI of the Local Government Code, under the powers of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, states: “Subject to the guidelines prescribed by the Department of Transportation and Communication, (the SP shall) regulate the operations of tricycles and grant franchise for the operations thereof within the territorial jurisdiction of the city.”
Lim, on the other hand, pointed out that SP has exercised that power when it enacted Ordinance No. 2883-2006, the Comprehensive Tricycle Franchise Ordinance of 2007.
“This is in itself was the legislative grant of franchise that Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 envisioned,” Lim said.
Fernandez said the SP, which voted unanimously on the vetoed ordinance, will discuss this week what their next move will be on the matter.
“This matter is now in the hands of the city councilors and in the meantime, I withhold any comment on the matter in order not to preempt their decision,” Fernandez said.
The issuance of tricycle franchises originally rested on the SP, but this was transferred to the city mayor’s office through the legal office when Lim became mayor in 2001 and continued until 2007.
The function was reverted back to the SP in April this year, with former Mayor Alipio Fernandez’s approval, following a clamor from the tricycle operators who complained of having to go through and pay extra fees to “fixers” at the city hall.
When the SP processed new franchises in late August, the chairman of the committee on public utilities, Councilor Karlos Reyna, rejected applications presented by fixers.–LM
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
