Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has asked the City Council to make amendments in the City Ordinance No. 2566 that penalizes violators of the quarantine protocols to allow lower penalties for the violators.
This was revealed by Councilor David Tumulak, the proponent of the ordinance, on August 14, 2020, when he met with the mayor, the city prosecutor, the city police, and other enforcement agencies for the implementation guidelines of the ordinance.
Tumulak said Mayor Labella pitied the violators, especially the first time violators, that they would have to go through the process in the court to be penalized.
“Naluoy atong mayor, mao na gusto niya paubsan ang penalty sa mga first time violators. (The mayor felt pity for the violators, and he wanted the penalty fine to be reduced for first time violators),” he said.
Under the ordinance, charges will be filed in court against the violators, and the court will determine their penalty, whether they pay a fine or serve time in jail.
The penalty for first-time violators is a fee of P1,500 or 30 days in prison. For the second offense, the violator will pay a fine of P3,000 and will serve 30 days in jail. For the third offense and multiple offenders, they will be fined P5,000 and serve 30 days in jail.
Read more: Quarantine violators in Cebu City to be charged starting Aug. 16
However, the mayor told Tumulak this might be too harsh for first-time violators especially since the records would show that most violators would not repeat their mistakes.
The Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, and Enhancement (PROBE) team has the records of all violators in the city.
The ordinance is not retroactive and all residents will have a clean slate come August 16, 2020.
With this, Tumulak said he would be proposing an amendment to the ordinance to allow first-time violators to pay only P500 fine and no longer need to go to court.
He will be filing the amendment on the next regular session of the council on August 19, 2020.
The councilor is hoping for the support of his colleagues in order to provide relief to the residents.
For the meantime, the filing of charges will remain for violators starting August 16, 2020./dbs