Cebu City Councilor Jerry Guardo. | CDN Digital File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The draft of the Green Architecture ordinance which he presented to the Cebu City Council on November 5, 2019 was not copied from the Green Engineering ordinance which Councilor Nestor Archival of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) submitted earlier to the legislative body.
Councilor Jerry Guardo of Barug Team Rama issued the clarification amidst allegations that his proposed measure was a “copy paste” of the work which the opposition councilor submitted to the City Council on September 24. Archival’s draft ordinance is now pending with the committees on laws and environmental for review.
Guardo said that the two measures refer to two separate fields of expertise which is architecture and engineering. However, both fields complement each other.
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But he does not discount the possibility of having his proposed ordinance merged with that of Archival. Guardo said that he was only waiting for the recommendation of the committees on laws and ordinance and environment of the City Council on the possible consolidation of the two draft measures.
“Paunhanay man gud na usahay mao nga di makalikayan magkaparehas gamay,” he said.
(Sometime we try to beat our colleagues in the submission of draft ordinances that is why similarities in the measures that submit cannot be avoided.)
Guardo said he understands the confusion caused by his draft measure because architecture and engineering go “hand in hand in building infrastructure.”
“Councilor Archival’s ordinance is for green engineering, understandably because he is an engineer. The ordinance focuses on the structural design of buildings. My ordinance is on green architecture, which is the aesthetic design of buildings. I have consulted architects in the city to formulate the ordinance,” said Guardo.
But Guardo said that he is willing to collaborate with Archival in formulating a unified ordinance on Green Infrastructure because even if they proposed two different ordinances, these ordinances complement each other.
Guardo said that while buildings are designed to ensure environmental sustainability, these should also “look the part” which means that the design especially of high rise structures should allow the inclusion of vertical forests.
Furthermore, the goal of his Green Architecture proposal is to incorporate environmental sustainability not only on the structures but also to include its surroundings. This includes the establishment of eco-spaces or parks with a landscape that would help deter greenhouse gas emissions.
However, both their draft ordinances share the need to establish eco-friendly facility in buildings like cisterns, wastewater treatment facility, water recycling and the use of solar panels. / dcb