Anti-smoking cases being archived often

Municipal Trial Court in Cities-Office of the Clerk of Court (MTCCOCC) Branch 7 recorded the number of pending cases on anti-smoking ordinance is higher than the number of complaints received by the court in August and that is because many cannot be pursued due to lack of information.

Court presiding Judge Rufino Ferraris Jr. said the office has 149 archived cases for the anti-smoking ordinance due to fake name and/or incomplete name, and incomplete address of the accused, which also causes delay on proceedings.

"Identified accused with incomplete or fake details and/or no specific address remains to be a problem that should be addressed by the authorities. It is difficult to summon an accused na di mao ang apelyedo ug ang address," Ferraris said.

Ferraris cited a complaint wherein the accused only provides Ba-

rangay Upper Malagamot, Panacan as his address. He added that their summon will only return due to incomplete address of the accused.

MTCC Branch 7 is the only court that hears violation of the anti-smoking ordinance in Davao City. The court is also encouraging authorities to get complete details of the accused as much as possible to easily resolve the case.

The ordinance was passed by the Davao City Council in 2010 and approved by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio last 2011. The New Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance has canceled uneven provisions of the original antismoking-ordinance.

MTCC Branch 7 has recorded 47 cases filed in August for violation of the ordinance while there were already 25 cases disposed or more than 25 accused were sentenced on the same month for violating the Ordinance No. 0367-12.

Anyone issued with ticket has the option to either contest the violation in court or voluntarily pay the P500 penalty imposed on him or her to avoid being criminally prosecuted within three days from apprehension.

It is clearly stated, however, that the no contest provision can only be availed once and that the violator must undergo smoking cessation counseling. Failure to undergo counseling still warrants the filing of a case in court. ICT