Time’s up for ‘tabo’? Bidet now a must in Angeles

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga, Philippines — It’s about time you ditch the “tabo” (dipper) for the bidet.

A bidet has become a must for toilets in commercial and business establishments in this city after the council approved amendments to the municipal sanitation code during its last regular session on June 25.

Outgoing Councilor Edgardo Pamintuan Jr. introduced the provision calling for the shift to bidet, a plumbing fixture considered to be a hygienic substitute for toilet paper.

His father, Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, signed the amended ordinance on Wednesday, describing it as “great news,” especially for people who frequent the toilets.

“The availability of access to a bidet helps in making sure the city is clean,” the mayor said.

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The mandatory installation of bidets is stated in two chapters and four sections of Ordinance No. 326. It does not say if the bidet must be manual or electronic.

But a number of hotels and restaurants in the city have already built toilets fitted with bidets years ahead of the amended ordinance.

A big hardware store here says bidets are among its bestsellers.

Angeles’ population of about 400,000 balloons to a million at night, drawn by tourist destinations like Fields Avenue where a rest and recreation industry boomed during the time it hosted the Clark Air Base of the United States until 1991.

Twenty-six percent of the 100.98 million Filipinos did not have clean and safe toilets, the Department of Health said in a 2015 report.

It said 74 percent of the population had real toilets while 26 percent, or at least 26 million, used makeshift toilets.