APPROVED. Baguio’s city government on July 8, 2024 approved an amendatory ordinance expanding the benefits of the city’s senior citizens, exempting the vehicles carrying them from the number coding scheme. The council earlier approved an ordinance exempting senior citizens from paying fees on roadside parking areas. (Photo by Redjie Melvic Cawis/PIA-CAR)
BAGUIO CITY – Vehicles driven by senior citizens who are city residents or those carrying them will soon be exempt from number coding after the city government amended an earlier ordinance exempting them from parking fees.
“The Baguio City Council has recently expanded the benefits for senior citizens in the city by exempting them from the Number Coding Scheme. The ordinance exempting senior citizens from the Number Coding Scheme was approved on the third and final reading by the Baguio City Council on July 8. It has been transmitted to Mayor Benjamin Magalong for signing before its implementation,” Baguio City Council information officer, Jordan Habbiling, said Friday.
Being an amendment, Ordinance 40 series of 2024 will be published in a newspaper of general circulation for three consecutive days as a requirement. Newspapers in the city, however, are published once a week.
The recently enacted measure is the fourth amendment to the city’s Number Coding Ordinance passed in 2008, which restricts vehicles from operating within designated zones, particularly in the Central Business District (CBD), from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. based on the last digit of their license plates with specific days assigned to different numbers.
Before this, senior citizens from the city were exempted from paying parking fees when on roadside pay parking areas.
“With this amendment, vehicles transporting senior citizens, whether as drivers or passengers, can now freely traverse the city roads within the CBD any day without being apprehended by traffic enforcers,” Habbiling said.
The amendment, however, indicates that the exemption from the number coding applies only to senior citizens who are Baguio residents and those traveling to and from medical clinics, hospitals, or places of work.
He noted that during the July 3 public consultation, it was reiterated that such privilege is an added benefit under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.
“Senior citizens who need medical attention and who work despite their age may struggle to commute due to the number coding restriction. (Councilor Jose Molintas) said the exemption would provide convenience and ease for senior citizens,” Habbiling said, sharing the statement of the author of the amendatory ordinance.
“It is important to assume that seniors' travel purposes are honest. By prioritizing the presumption of honesty as our guiding principle, we can create a more cohesive and trustworthy community,” Molintas said. (PNA)
