The city government of Laoag has deputized 225 village officials and 24 city employees as community-based enforcers of the city’s traffic and environment codes.
Laoag Mayor Michael Keon confirmed this on Thursday as the deputized traffic and environment law enforcers are expected to help in road-clearing operations as mandated by the national government and the Oplan Dalus Code of the city government, which aims to ensure proper waste segregation and management, among others.
“These 225 barangay officials and 24 city employees are now deputized enforcers and clothed with the authority and the task to implement these two directives. They will also serve as force multipliers to the concerned law enforcement agencies,” he said.
City environment and natural resources officer Mylene Isabel Pascual said in an interview that starting this week, the newly deputized law enforcers can already issue citation tickets to violators of the city’s traffic rules and Oplan Dalus code.
“The deputized enforcers underwent training to equip the participants with comprehensive knowledge of environmental and natural resources laws, including the traffic code,” she said.
Pascual said their identification cards as deputies are valid for five years and as part of their incentive, they get a 50 percent share in the collected revenues from the issuance of citation tickets to violators.
Meanwhile, Keon reminded the deputized personnel to handle the traffic fairly, never abuse the authority that they have been given, and refrain from being harsh to violators.
“In the implementation of any directive, we should all work as a team because it is only through teamwork that we can achieve success,” he said.
As one of the deputized enforcers, Manuel Morales, village chief of Barangay 1 San Lorenzo, expressed hope that his village would become a model barangay in terms of maintaining peace and order, as well as in solid waste management in the community.
(Leilanie Adriano)