Egay Uy .
IN 2011, the city council of Cagayan de Oro passed Ordinance No. 12139-2011 which prescribes the issuance of Ordinance Violation Receipt (OVR) or Citation Ticket to violators or offenders of city ordinances.
On Oct. 2, 2018, Mayor Oscar S. Moreno issued Executive Order No. 169, series of 2018 creating the OVR Grievance Board of which I was appointed as a member. Atty. Reymond Villablanca, assistant city legal officer, sits as chairperson, and Engr. Leonil Mistula, OIC assistant city treasurer, as vice chairperson.
The other members are councilors Malou Gaane and Alam Lim, city prosecutor Charisse Bitoon, Supt. Robert de los Reyes, Dr. Rachel Dilla, Engr. Armen Cuenca, Mr. Oliver Egypto, Ms. Maricel Rivera, and Mr. Alan Fernandez.
The Grievance Board affords opportunity for anyone to whom an ordinance violation receipt or citation ticket is issued to contest the issuance of the ticket or receipt. It also takes cognizance of complaints against apprehending officers who may have crossed the line in issuing the OVR.
So, unless the supposed offender contests the issuance, he has to settle the administrative fine within seventy-two hours to avoid being dragged to court for a violation of a city ordinance.
The OVR or citation ticket practically covers all violations of city ordinances, e.g., regulations on sanitation, littering, fire crackers, nuisances, massage clinics, and several other ordinances, except only violations of the traffic code which has a separate but similar method of citation ticket system.
The grievance board is tasked, as an initial undertaking, to draft the implementing rules and regulations of Ordinance No. 12139-2011 and to submit to the City Mayor a list of nominees for deputation as apprehending officers, and of course to promote the dissemination of information to the public on the salient provisions of the ordinance.
As soon as preparations will have been done, the grievance board may then take roll up its sleeves and get to work. The grievance board’s jurisdiction will however be for “residual” incidents because the jurisdiction of other regulatory offices, existing boards, committees, teams, or councils, e.g., Regulatory and Complaint Board, Smoke-Free CdeO Task Force, Joint Inspection Team, and the like, will take precedence.
With the establishment of the OVR Grievance Board, those to whom citation tickets or ordinance violation receipts are issued will now have a clear means of contesting citations and lodging complaints against possible abuses committed by issuing or apprehending officers or enforcers.
Good riddance.
(Lawyer Egay Uy is co-chairman of the local price coordinating council. He is also serving in the city’s Regulatory and Complaints Board.)
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