WANTED: A MORE PROACTIVE BOARDINGHOUSE COMMISSION

AFTER the La Paz district fire on Feb. 18 that gutted seven boardinghouses and left two persons dead, Mayor Jerry Treñas ordered the city government’s Boarding House Commission to inspect boardinghouses all over Iloilo City if these meet safety standards.

Of the seven boardinghouses affected by Sunday’s fire in Barangay San Nicolas, two failed to renew their permits, while three were operating without any permits whatsoever. Haslo!

This discovery begs the question: Is the Boarding House Commission seriously doing its job?

The Commission is primarily tasked to ensure that all boardinghouses are complying with all the requirements pertaining to their operation.

Under City Ordinance 2000- 01 which regulates the operation of boardinghouses, apartments and dormitories in Iloilo City, “no person shall own, keep, maintain, operate or conduct any house or place for accommodation of boarders or housing boarders or bed-spacers for compensation or rent without having first obtained a Mayor’s Permit, Sanitary Permit, Fire Safety Inspection Permit and paying other taxes, fees or charges.”

But as Sunday’s fire showed, there were violators – and there could be more out there. Tonto!

How frequent does the Boarding House Commission conduct inspections? And when? At the beginning of the school year lang? Or every January lang

at the start of a new year?

Boardinghouse inspections must be recurrent and persistent. If they can do it monthly, or even twice a month, so much the better. Indi lang once a year, or worse, once is a blue moon. Tarso!

How else can the Boarding House Commission explain the operation of boardinghouses sans permits in Barangay San Nicolas? Clearly, the inspections were very infrequent – or there was none at all! Haslo!