WHEN push came to shove, members of the majority of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, joined by one of the two in the opposition, rallied together and passed a resolution on September 13 overriding the veto of Mayor Benjamin Lim on their two ordinances involving tricycle franchises.

Voting 9-1 on a measure that finally made Ordinance No. 1957-2010 and Ordinance No. 1958-2010 into law, the council stood pat on its position that it’s the Sanggunian that has the authority and mandate to grant and regulate franchises for tricycles.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who chairs the SP, expressed hope that overriding the vetoes will finally put the matter to rest.

Mayor Benjamin Lin has submitted to the decision of the SP.

“In a way, I was expecting this override to happen, but for the sake of Dagupeños, for harmony, we have to accept this as a matter of course and preserve the spirit of democracy in our city,” said Lim.

City hall observers believe that this is the first time in the city’s history that the city council voted to override vetoes of the mayor.

In an interview after the council session, Fernandez also said that the SP move is by no means a declaration of war against the mayor as others perceive it, but it was in fact a legal step that reconciled the position of the executive and legislative bodies.

Councilor Brian Lim, the mayor’s son, registered the lone negative vote as his only minority colleague, Councilor Redford Christian Erfe-Mejia, sided with the majority in approving Resolution No. R-4700, which overrides the vetoes.

Majority Floor Leader Maybelyn De la Cruz Fernandez and Sangguniang Kabataan president Carlo Fernandez were absent from the session as they were out of town on official business, but the SP still had enough members present to override the veto.

Erfe-Mejia, a neophyte councilor, said while he can see the point of the vetoes made by the mayor, his political ally in the Nacionalista Party, he cannot allow tricycle drivers and operators to suffer and lose their livelihood.

He said while he recognizes the power of the SP to grant franchises, he at the same time believes that the processing of franchise applications rests on the executive branch.

The mayor said he respects the position taken by Erfe-Mejia.

Councilor Karlos Reyna, principal author of Resolution No. R-4700, on the other hand, asserts that the processing of applications of tricycle franchises is “an oversight function of the legislative body”.

LEGAL OPERATIONS

Ronnie Quinto, president of the Dagupan Federation of Tricycle Drivers Associations, welcomed the SP override saying this gives hope to 2,500 tricycle drivers and operators in the city that they would be given franchises to operate legally.

With the override, tricycle drivers and operators said they can now heave a sigh of relief knowing that they will no longer be arrested by the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) or the police for supposedly operating without a franchise.

In a meeting with the SP after the override, Lim asked the council that in processing applications, they should ensure that applicants should be bona-fide residents of Dagupan and not to issue more than one franchise to one family.

Furthermore, he asked the SP to comply with the national law on four stroke motorcycles and raise penalties against ‘colorums.’

He also urged the city council to help in setting a budget for the Public Order and Safety Office for a 24-hour duty to protect the locals and transients against ‘colorums’ playing the city streets at night.

SP’S MANDATE

The SP override involved Lim’s vetoes on an ordinance seeking to renew the franchise of 23 tricycle operators and another ordinance that set the guidelines for the administrative requirements for granting tricycle franchises.

Lim claimed that these ordinances infringe on his executive prerogatives and administrative functions.

He also maintained that the earlier enactment of a Comprehensive Tricycle Franchise Ordinance of 2007 is “sufficient compliance with the Sanggunian’s mandate as provided by Section 458 of the Local Government Code”.

Reyna, chairman on the committee on public works and public utilities, moved for the resolution overriding the mayor’s vetoes, citing Paragraph V1 of Section 458 of the Local Government Code of 1991 which reads: “Subject to the guidelines prescribed by the Department of Transportation and Communications,(the SP shall) regulate the operation of tricycles and grant franchise for the operation thereof within the territorial jurisdiction of the city”.

The aforementioned law, Reyna said, clearly bestows upon the Sangguniang Panlungsod the authority to: (1) Regulate the operation of tricycles and (2) grant franchises for the operation thereof.

Reyna also said that Par (c) Section 55 of RA 7165 (Local Government Code) provides that the Local Chief Executive may veto an ordinance or resolution only once, which means there is nothing more that the mayor can do after the override.

Under the Local Government Code, the Sanggunian may override the veto of the Local Chief Executive by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of all its members, thereby making the ordinance effective even without the approval of the local chief executive concerned. –LM

Back to Homepage

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments