DAVAO CITY -- If drinking binges, smoking and fireworks are your ideas of entertainment, then Davao City is not the best place to be unless you want to end up in jail -- the city’s executive and legislative departments have mostly prohibited these activities.
Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte has again warned Dabawenyos and visitors not to challenge the ordinance and has reiterated that even expensive electronic devices that emit noise are included in the prohibition.
“Every year we put at least 50 people behind bars for violating the firecracker ban, but I am happy with that for as long as we maintain the zero casualty or injury rate every year,” he said.
Mr. Duterte, however, assured Dabawenyos that he will feed the family of those jailed for violating the firecracker ban.
With the holiday season come parties and merrymaking but this is not a license to go on drinking binges in the city after the clock strikes one in the morning.
In August this year, Mr. Duterte signed City Ordinance No. 004-13, amending the 1994 Ordinance No. 1627 (also known as “An ordinance regulating the operation of business establishments selling liquors, coconut wine and other nature wine and other alcoholic beverages in the City of Davao.”)
The ordinance prohibits the serving, selling and drinking of intoxicating drinks along city streets, parking areas, and uninhabited places between 1 and 8 a.m. Violators will be meted a fine of up to P5,000 or one year imprisonment, and the revocation of the business permit of the establishment concerned.
“I don't think it will adversely affect the city’s tourism because people do not go here primarily for drinking binges but for other attractions,” Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, chairperson of the committee on tourism, said. City Tourism Officer Maria Felisa C. Marques said she is confident that the liquor ban will not make Davao a less attractive place for tourists although she said there is a need to offer more tourism products.
If there is one thing that residents and visitors should be wary of when in Davao, it would be the New Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance which became effective on May 31 of this year and amended the 2002 no-smoking ordinance. Davao is a tough place for smokers so residents who cannot lick the habit are better off smoking inside their residences.
The new ordinance prohibits smoking in “public conveyances, government-owned vehicles, accommodation and entertainment establishments, workplaces, enclosed or partially enclosed public places, public buildings and public outdoor spaces including cemetery, markets, and terminals and areas 10 meters away from entrance and exits of establishments.”
Dr. Domilyn C. Villareiz, chief of the Davao City anti-smoking task force, warned both residents and visitors about the strict implementation of the ordinance. She said there are closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) everywhere and violators will not only pay a penalty of P500-P5,000 (first time and subsequent violations) but they will also be required to attend a smoking cessation counseling session and spend up to four months in prison. Police stations have already been issued pads of violation citation tickets.
“The new ordinance is not stricter than the previous one but it has made the prohibited smoking areas a lot clearer and it has a no-contest provision,” she said. The ordinance also requires establishments to put up outdoor smoking areas following the task force specifications or face the same penalties.
Of the three ordinances, it is the anti-smoking and the firecracker ban ordinances, which have been successfully implemented by the city for 11 years now. The liquor ban is fairly new and still has to pass the test of time. -- Carmencita A. Carillo
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Davao%3A-A-city-of-many-%27No-nos%E2%80%99--&id=81331
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