Fun run ordinance to impose fees in Cebu City

FUN runs in Cebu City will only be allowed during weekends and on holidays based on a proposed ordinance reviewed by the City Council yesterday.

Councilor Edgar Labella said fees will also be collected from organizers to include overtime pay for traffic enforcers and PNP personnel to be deployed to secure the conduct of fun runs held before 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“Overtime will be computed based on the salary they are getting,” he said.

Labella, a fun run enthusiast and chairperson of the council’s committee on laws, said if left unregulated, fun runs can disrupt traffic and pedestrian flow.

He said there were reports of participants being side swept by vehicles due to lack of traffic personnel.

Areas where fun runs are held are left with garbage, Labella added.

Labella, who authored the ordinance, also disapproved of holding more than one fun run in a day.

Some councilors wanted the ordinance to include payment of expensive regulatory fees and even taxes.

“But we have to have balance interests,” he said in yesterday’s session.

Labella said imposing taxes on fun run organizers should also be dealt with separately and after a review of the city’s tax code.

Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa asked for a hard copy of the draft ordinance before final deliberation of the proposed measure.

Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. asked Labella to specify in the ordinance that fun runs should only be allowed on weekends and during holidays.

He said exemptions should have approval by the council, a proposal Labella agreed with.