Franchise application of Mandurriao cockpit arena operator shelved anew
The proposed ordinance granting Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas the authority to issue a franchise to one Marjorie Marañon to operate the Mandurriao Cockpit Arena has been shelved for a couple of times already in the Sangguniang Panlungsod. In last Wednesday's regular session of the city legislature, it again was deferred after several city councilors requested proponent Kagawad Lyndon Acap to first produce copies of Presidential Decree 449 as amended by P.D. 483 to make sure that the provisions claimed by him relative to guidelines by the Philippine Gamefowls Commission covering the issuance of such franchises still apply and were followed by the new applicant.
According to Iloilo City Councilor Perla Zulueta, it would seem that the Acap-sponsored ordinance is like putting the cart before the horse. "It's as if the requested license would contain what we would like to put in the ordinance. Which definitely should not be the case--we should first have an ordinance relative to the subject before we issue a particular license."
She added that since this is the first time that anyone from the city council has had to do it--the license for the city's first cockpit, the Iloilo Coliseum in Jaro, was issued many decades ago--they all seem to be lost. "We can't seem to get our acts together on this."
Zulueta, dubbed the "Iron Lady of the City Council," said it would be much easier for members of the city council to understand and learn how they'll get about the business of issuing such franchise if they have the documents to be sure that the provisions of P.D. 449 were merely carried over to the existing law.
"If there are such papers, we'll be apprised of the guidelines covering such franchise grant," the veteran city legislator from Molo further averred in agreeing with Majority Floorleader Eduardo Peñaredondo's suggestion to first provide members of the body with copies of the pertinent laws on granting franchises to cockpit operators.
"Don't get me wrong. I don't have objections to the proposed ordinance; in fact we're willing to pass that. What I ask is that we first fine-tune it para wala kita sang problema sa ulihi [so that we don't encounter problems in the future]," Zulueta said in conclusion.