Jinggoy questions San Juan City’s new ordinance on evacuation centers

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada —Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Jinggoy Estrada criticized on Monday the ordinance issued by the local government of San Juan in relation to operation and maintenance of evacuation centers in the city, calling it ridiculous and unreasonable.

“Saan ka nakakita na ang mga nagmamagandang loob at nais makiramay sa mga nangangailangan ay maaari pa palang pagmultahin kung hindi dadaan muna sa Office of the Mayor? Para magpaalam?” asked Estrada in a statement.

READ: Jinggoy Estrada loses in senatorial race in hometown San Juan City 

(Where would you see this type of order that those who have a good heart and want to sympathize with the needy can still be fined if they don’t go through the Office of the Mayor first?)

Some salient points of San Juan’s City Ordinance No. 26 series of 2024 include the following:

• Repairing the damaged facilities inside the evacuation centers is the responsibility of the General Services Department and City Engineering Office, together with the SJ Gym caretakers or school principal.
• Those who wish to become volunteers such as helping to make a masterlist of victims, cooking, handing out aid, and others, must report to the City Social Welfare and Development Center to be given orientation and assignment before they are endorsed to the cluster in need of more help.
• All donations from private and public individuals, governments, or non-governmental organizations for victims of the disaster must go through the Office of the Mayor to ensure that it is recorded and reported properly and that the beneficiaries will get the same.
• Whoever violates the provisions stated in the city ordinance will be fined P5,000

This did not sit well with Estrada who further questioned the “need to ask” the mayor’s approval when handing aid.

“Sa panahon na sakuna, ang lahat ng klase ng tulong ay mahalaga lalong lalo na sa mga nangangailangan – ang mga biktima,” said Estrada.

(In times of calamity, all types of aid are important, especially those who have been victimized and those who are in need.)

According to the senator, such rules implemented by the local government of San Juan only discourage donors who are willing to help Filipinos, especially amid the onslaught of tropical cyclone Enteng.

“Kahit ilang beses akong pagmultahin ng P5,000 [ay] hindi ako matitinag na magpaabot ng tulong sa aking mga nangangailangan at nakakaawang mga kababayan. Bilang isang mambabatas, alam ko na walang umiiral na batas na nagbabawal tumulong sa mga nangangailangan lalo na in times of emergency,” he said.

(Even if I am fined P5,000 several times [I will] not be moved to extend help to my needy and pitiful countrymen. As a legislator, I know that there is no existing law that prohibits helping those in need especially in times of emergency.)

READ: San Juan junks Jinggoy Estrada 

INQUIRER.net has asked San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora to comment on Estrada’s remarks but he has yet to reply as of writing.

The Estradas and Zamora have long been political rivals, but to note, it was  Zamora who ended the 50-year grip of the Estrada clan over San Juan when he was elected city mayor in 2019.