An environmentalist is hopeful that the Davao City Council will finalize the City Environment Code before 2019 ends.
Mark Peñalver, Policy Advocacy Specialist of the Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), said on Friday that he is optimistic that the envi code will be prioritized by the local lawmaking body as this will serve as a bible of environmental policies of the city.
Peñalver said that the group had been pushing for the envi code, which was first proposed by the late Councilor Leonardo “Happy LA” Avila III.
He said that the group had questioned why the code had the hard time to be pushed in the city.
“We already have so many environmental ordinances, all it needs is codification,” Peñalver said in an interview.
He said that IDIS is however thankful that Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and the councilors are pushing for the immediate crafting of the said code.
Peñalver said that the envi code is urgent since the city is undergoing various infrastructure projects, timely with the Build, Build, Build Program of President Duterte’s administration.
“We wanted to ensure that the city will practice sustainable development, and we hope that this crafted code will address this,” he said.
Peñalver said that they are continuously coordinating with City Councilor Diosdado Mahipus, chairman of the City Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
Mahipus, early last year, called on different local environmental groups to help the city in drafting the envi code.
He said that the proposal from these groups will be merged to the CENRO’s (City Environment and Natural Resources Office) own version of the proposal.
