An ordinance prohibiting business entities and persons charging fees for the use of toilets, comfort rooms or restrooms to senior citizens and persons with disabilities in Bacolod City, was passed on first reading yesterday by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The ordinance was authored by Councilor El Cid Familiaran and co-authored by Councilor Catalino Alisbo.
The ordinance saidsenior citizens and persons with disabilities are considered the most marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society.
They are forced to look for free toilets, comfort rooms or restrooms because certain establishments in the city require them to pay first before they can use them, it said.
The ordinance saidrequiring elderly and persons with disabilities to pay such fees since they are less mobile and capable of walking further to respond to the call of nature.
Business establishments or persons who violate the ordinance will be fined P3,000 or suffer imprisonment not to exceed one year or both, at the discretion of the Court. The same penalty will apply for failure to post signages, it said.
The SP also approved a resolution yesterday requesting the City Engineer’s Office and the Bacolod Authority Office through the Office of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to repaint or put up pedestrian lanes in front of, or near public and private schools in Bacolod City.
Authored by Councilor Caesar Distrito, the resolution said it is the thrust of the government to secure the safety of the students, teachers and other members of the society in crossing the street.
The resolution said pedestrian lanes in most of the schools in Bacolod City have already faded or not existing which makes them unsafe.
It said one way of promoting road safety and minimizing vehicular accidents is to educate the students by compelling them to use the pedestrian lanes in crossing the streets.
The presence of pedestrian lanes, will give students and other citizens a proper area for crossing the street and be safer.*CGS
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