‘Green guards’ vs vandals

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

The Iloilo City government tapped 30 green guards who will oversee and protect public areas from vandals.

According to Mayor Jerry Treñas, the green guards will undergo a 5-day training with the police as they have been deputized to issue citation tickets.

“Daw lima ka training na nga adlaw sa kapulisan, they will be bringing with them citation tickets. Sila na ang malibot sa tanan ta nga plaza, sa Esplanade, sa tanan nga may tanom kay ang ila primary duty is to make sure nga indi mavandlize ining mga tanom,” Treñas said in an interview.

Treñas said the green guards will also protect areas where the city government conducted tree planting activities.

“They will also go to areas nga may ara tree planting. They have also undergone training on anti-littering policies of the city government,” he furthered.

Recently, the mayor offered a P50,000 reward from his own pocket for those who can provide information on vandals who destroyed a palm tree planted along Diversion road in Mandurriao.

“Ang akon ipauntaton ta gid ni whether they like it or not and I am willing to spend money para makahatag sang reward para madakpan naton kon sin-o ang nagavandalize kag nagapatay sang tanom naton diri,” he said in previous interviews.

Aside from green guards, Treñas said the city government will also deploy 30 tourist guards in the city to ensure safety of tourists in the metro.

“Ang mga tourist guards, they will be scattered in the city ilabi na gid sa mga areas nga may turista para mapasigurado ang safety sang aton turista,” he said.

The mayor added that the tourist guards will also undergo training on first aid in order to serve as first responders to accidents and other emergencies.

“They will have another two to three trainings under the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) para sa first aid kay gusto ko nga sila pwede mangin first responders,” he noted.

The tourist guards and green guards were part of the 162 sanitation officers deputized by the city government to strictly enforce the city’s anti-littering ordinance.

The sanitation officers – 35 from Special Services Division (SSD), 30 tourist guards, 29 green guards, 20 each from City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) and General Services Office (GSO), 19 from Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO), and 9 from Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) – were introduced at the City Hall last Monday.

The anti-littering policy or Regulation Ordinance 2004-149 penalizes any person caught littering on the streets, sidewalks, and other public places; urinating, defecating or spitting in public places; painting or posting graffiti and vandalism or any public and private places; and failure to maintain cleanliness of premises and surroundings.