Registration of transients eyed in Baguio ordinance

BAGUIO CITY — Lodging facility owners and other property lessors will be required to register their tenants with the barangay registry who will stay for more than a week under a proposed city ordinance.

The proposed ordinance, which was approved on first reading and authored by Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr., stated that it is declared policy of the local government to protect its constituents and maintain peace and order, and preserve the comfort and convenience of residents.

Yangot said, the ordinance is intended to deter criminal elements from committing crimes inside rented properties or to elude arrest by becoming transients from one place to the other and facilitate ease in tracking suspected or convicted criminals.

Under the proposed ordinance, owners of townhouses, apartments, condotels, condominiums and boarding houses who lease their properties to tenants, renters, boarders, bed spacers or transients should oversee the registration of their prospective tenants, lessees, boarders, migrants or transients by requiring the latter to present a valid identification card with photo and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or police clearance.

The ordinance also states that the owners, lessors and operators shall be required to pay a registration of P50 to the barangay for the registration of their tenants.

Yangot explained that most criminals transfer from one house to another to facilitate the commission of crimes and to avoid or elude arrest.