Busking public hearing on

A PUBLIC hearing is set for the busking ordinance by councilor Leandro Yangot.

Yangot said the ordinance has passed its first reading and is scheduled to have a public hearing as he urged artists to submit their position papers on the proposed law to be able to put in revisions if needed.

Yangot said he has met with a few artists weeks ago in a meeting at the University of the Philippines Baguio Campus and said the best way to help craft the law is to attend the hearing and actively participate. Previously, artists enumerated requests on how to conduct the consultation with regards to the proposed busking ordinance.

The letter suggested public consultation should be conducted under the Baguio Creative City Council saying “we believe that our concerns can be articulated most effectively in the Creative City Council, which we expect to be fairly representative of Baguio’s creative communities. We therefore move to defer the public hearing pending final approval of the ordinance creating the

Baguio Creative City Council.”

Yangot added the rules of the city council will have to apply to the busking ordinance.

“They cannot impose that, there has to be a process,” said Yangot.

The proposed ordinance aims to regulate “busking” or the act of performing in public places for gratuities.

If the new law is passed, a permit must be acquired by the performers at city hall with a corresponding annual fee of P350.

However artists fear that governing artistic expression would curtail rather than encourage creativity, and that screening out “nonartistic” activities based on some bureaucratically con- trived criteria would discriminate against certain individuals.

Yangot said actual practicing buskers have given their support to the new law and welcome legitimizing their activities with the city government.