It is not only Manila that is plagued by the proliferation of boarding houses that pose health and safety hazards for their boarders. Most student dormitories and boarding houses here obtained the required business permits in spite of reports showing that these have not been complying with health, safety and structural standards, the city’s chief executive has admitted.
BY LYN V. RAMO
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 21, July 1-7, 2007
BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – It is not only Manila that is plagued by the proliferation of boarding houses that pose health and safety hazards for their boarders. Most student dormitories and boarding houses here obtained the required business permits in spite of reports showing that these have not been complying with health, safety and structural standards, the city’s chief executive has admitted.
Mayor-elect Reinaldo A. Bautista said there is nothing wrong with renewing the registration and business permits of boarding houses pending monitoring and inspection by appropriate government agencies to check possible violations of health and safety standards.
“Once we find out these are not worthy, then we could always impose penalties and sanctions, even close them without getting a refund of the fees they have paid the city,” said Bautista.
Bautista admitted many boarding houses catering to students from various provinces would fail in stricter inspections but said, “If we are going to be strict, no dormitory will accommodate the growing student population. If we are lax, we can collect the taxes due to the city, at the same time monitor and impose regulations so that the owners will have a chance to improve their facilities and be more cautious in the future.”
Appearing before the media during the weekly Kapihan with the association of regional executives here, Bautista was among the panelists in the Cordillera regional launching of the National Disaster Consciousness Month, which is July.
Bautista disclosed that some 90 percent of boarding houses and dormitories in the city do not comply with guidelines set by the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO), which is supposedly issuing occupancy permits. Violations included the lack of fire escapes and fire extinguishers, maintenance of structurally unsound and even dilapidated structures, and the admission of both males and females as boarders in the same buildings.
Earlier, some councilors consider many boarding houses and dormitories as fire hazards posing dangers to the lives of students.
Around 300,000 students flock to the city to study, according to the mayor, elevating the city as an educational center of the North. It boasts of four homegrown universities and lately, other Manila-based universities have put up campuses here. Even religious groups have established their schools in the city.
In its session on June 25, the City Council passed on joint and collective motion a resolution to reactivate the task force monitoring boarding houses, apartments and dormitories not only in the university belt, but in all areas where students stay.
Councilor Jose Mencio Molintas, who ran against Rep. Mauricio Domogan, said the boarding house owner should follow health and safety standards, as he noted complaints from both parents and the schools.
Administrative Order 2006-65 created a Task Force Boarding House for Baguio City. Northern Dispatch / Posted by (Bulatlat.com)
