The Sangguniang
Panlungsod of the City of Victorias, on its Feb. 5, 2014 Regular Session,
has passed its rookie ordinance known as the “Victorias City Organic
Agriculture Ordinance of 2014”.
Ordinance No. 01-2014 is “AN
ORDINANCE INSTITUTIONALIZING, PROMOTING AND DEVELOPING ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN
THE CITY, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND MAKING VICTORIAS CITY AN ORGANIC CITY
OF NORTHERN NEGROS”.
The
wisdom behind its passage is explicitly stated in Chapter 1, Section 2 of said
Ordinance which says: “It is the duty of the Local Government to protect life
and advance the rights of all citizens to food sufficiency, sovereignty and
safety, sustainable livelihood and social equity in accord with the rhythm and
harmony of nature.
Towards this end, the local
government of Victorias City shall mainstream organic agriculture as the main
agricultural practice in the area, in line with the Provincial Government’s
“Organik na Negros” program, that will cumulatively condition and enrich the
fertility of the soil, increase farm productivity, reduce pollution and
destruction of the environment, prevent the depletion of the natural resources,
further protect the health of farmers and consumers, and have program for the
promotion of community-based organic agriculture systems which include, among
others, farmer-produced organic fertilizers, pesticides and other farm inputs,
organic feeds for poultry, livestock, and fish, together with a Citywide
educational and promotional campaign for their use and processing, as well as
the adoption of organic agriculture system as a viable alternative, shall be
undertaken.
The promotion and implementation of
Organic Agriculture in the City will be in support to the present
administration’s priority development agenda, particularly on Agri-Eco and
Sports Tourism.
The Ordinance
further supports the development of organic farms, organic markets and
restaurants, as future destination of foreign and domestic tourists, as well as
for the benefit of the health - conscious Victoriahanons and Negrosanons.
This First Ordinance passed by the
City Council on Feb. 5, 2014 was sponsored by Councilor Abelardo Bantug III
(SPM, Committee Chairman on Agriculture) and was unanimously approved by all
members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
It was finally signed into a local law last February 2014 by Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca to help usher Victoriahanons “sa matuod-tuod nga pag ASENSO!”
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