BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Lawmakers here have expressed support to the proposed Safe Boarding Houses ordinance that will tighten the multi-sectoral watch on the prevention of teen pregnancies in the province.
Board member Elma Pinao-an-Lejao, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s committee on family and social welfare and proponent of the proposed ordinance, said they have already conducted a series of public hearings in various municipalities involving boarding house owners and operators in Solano, Bayombong, Aritao and Bambang towns, parent organizations, and school officials.
“Based on our public hearings, the affected sectors have expressed their appreciation and support for the ordinance. We are one in our advocacy to prevent the rise of teen pregnancies in our province,” Lejao said.
A report of the Population Commission in Cagayan Valley showed Nueva Vizcaya ranks second in teen pregnancy occurrence in the region.
Lita Tabudlo, provincial population and development officer, said the magnitude of teen pregnancy in the province is bolstered by the influx of college students from other provinces in Cagayan Valley, Ifugao, Benguet and Nueva Ecija.
Some of the features of the ordinance, Lejao said, will be the installation of CCTVs inside and outside boarding houses, enforcement of curfew hours for visitation, especially at night time, and compliance of boarding houses to the Fire Code of the Philippines.
It also prescribes the separation of male and females in boarding houses, registration and proper identification of visitors, and the prohibition of intoxicating drinks and illegal drugs inside the houses.
Boarding houses will be also required to secure business permits from the local government, as they will help implement the ordinance in terms of complying with its regulations and provisions.
“Boarding houses that will be violating the ordinance will be penalized. Their business permit will also be revoked once the operators and owners continue to defy compliance to the ordinance,” she added.
Vice Gov. Lambert Galima Jr., in a recent meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council, also assured Fr. Renillo Sta. Ana, president of St. Mary’s University, on the approval of the proposed ordinance.
Tabudlo said the ordinance serves as the localized version of a similar proposal authored by former board member Merianthe Zuraek.
It was made to prevent adolescent pregnancies, especially in major educational centers in the province such as the towns of Bambang, Bayombong, and Solano.
“But there is a need to localize it in the municipal level because boarding house owners and operators then do not follow the separation of male and female boarders in one boarding house. The present ordinance will further strengthen our resolve to advocate our efforts to prevent teen pregnancies,” Tabudlo said.