MISREADINGS
Intensified regulation
“Neneng,” as what she is being called by other ambulant vendors who are selling chicharon, salted peanuts, boiled quail’s egg and other food stuff, expressed her dismay regarding the intensified yet less coordinated re-implementation of numerous ordinances in Iloilo City.
I learned from her that she was nearly apprehended by the “anti-jaywalking” task force personnel assigned in Valeria Street after she casually crossed the busy road not thinking that an anti-jaywalking ordinance is again being enforced by the new administration. She said her impulsive reasoning was the reason why she was not issued a citation slip.
To “Neneng,” there is nothing wrong with the ordinance. In fact, she believes it is a necessary legislation because it is for public safety. Her only protest is the inadequate public awareness drive to inform the public that the ordinance will be reintroduced and that the public is advised to observe and comply.
The re-introduction of the anti-jaywalking ordinance is not the only issue that caught public criticism because of poor public awareness drive, but the same holds true with other ordinances like anti-smoking and the anti-littering.
This is not the first time that these ordinances were enforced strictly. It has been tried before yet somewhere along the way the process broke down and left us wondering whatever happened to the uniformed anti-jaywalking task force personnel.
I would agree with “Neneng” that information dissemination efforts are inadequate. Legislation which provides a set of system to ensure an orderly society entails systematic information campaign in order to achieve its noble intentions. Proper and scientific methods of information campaign could guarantee the realization and flawless integration of regulation ordinances in our society.
Information campaign plays a significant role in the implementation of ordinances for these are not merely legal policies, but rather, instruments aimed to change the attitudes of the citizens. It is about social change.
In the 1950’s, American scientists Heatman and Sheatsley, began their systematic study on social change. Their findings revealed that in spite of systematic information drive, social change campaigns could fail.
For Heatman and Sheatsley, information campaigns often fail because of various reasons. One, a hard core of “chronic know-nothings” exists who cannot be reached by information campaigns. In fact, “there is something about the uninformed that makes them harder to reach, no matter what the level or nature of the information.”
Two, “the likelihood of an individual responding to new information increases with the audience’s interest or involvement on the issue. If few people are interested, few will respond.”
Three, “the likelihood of an individual being receptive to new information increases with the information’s compatibility with the audience’s prior attitudes.” People tend to avoid disagreeable information. People will read different things into the information they receive, depending on their beliefs and values.
The findings of Heatman and Sheatsley put substantial basis on the lament of our citizens like “Neneng” that intensified regulation efforts by our local government requires the same intensity of information campaign. Our legislations are not only pieces of policy that draw the parameters of how we could organize our daily life as citizens, but likewise it serves as a set of mechanism aimed to achieve social change.
These findings could describe why the re-implementation of ordinances like the anti-jaywalking, anti-smoking, and anti-littering, or an execution of a new legislation, is bound to die down. Our implementers are not fully aware of the significant role that information campaign plays in the implementation of our legislations.
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