OCT 25 2015

NR # 3998

Solon seeks a more systematic numbering of houses & buildings in RP for

orderliness & security
A House member is seeking a more systematic numbering of all houses and
buildings in the country, with the numbers to serve as the postal addresses of the
residential units and business establishments.
Rep. Lucy T. Gomez (4th District, Leyte) said her proposal will promote orderliness
and convenience in a contemporary social life. It will also promote security since the
identification of the owners or occupants of a unit and their activities undertaken thereat,
will be facilitated for peace and order.
Gomez noted that presently, the numbers of residences and establishments in Metro
Manila alone, are sometimes hard to find.
Meanwhile, houses and business firms in the provinces, especially in remote areas,
do not fare any better inasmuch as in many cases, the numbers are entirely missing
according to Gomez, an Assistant Majority Leader.
In House Bill 6149 or the proposed Philippine Numbering of Houses and
Buildings Act of 2015, now pending at the Committee on Local Government, Gomez
proposed that all dwelling houses and other buildings erected or to be erected on any
street, alley, lane or any other place within the limits of every barangay in the country
shall be numbered in accordance with the plan provided.
Churches, chapels, government buildings, such as municipal buildings,
administrative buildings, schoolhouses, hospitals, clinics, public markets, fire stations and
barracks, shall be exempt from the Act.
To ensure systematic and accurate numbering of houses and buildings, the bill
authorizes the Municipal or City Engineer to cause the numbering and renumbering of
houses or buildings within the territorial jurisdiction of the local government unit (LGU).
Moreover, it shall be the duty of the Municipal or City Engineer to assign a number
to each and every house or building based on a system and plan duly adopted by his
office.
The owner or occupant of a house or building may purchase or cause the
manufacture of the plate number from any store or hardware of his choice and following
the class, form, shape, design and location of the plate of his or her preference, provided
he or she adopts or utilizes the specific number so assigned to his or her house or building
unit by the Municipal or City Engineer.

The Municipal or City Engineer shall send appropriate notices to the concerned
house or building owner or occupant. Owners or occupants shall not be issued a certificate
of occupancy unless they comply with the Act.
It shall be the duty of every owner, or in his or her absence or prolonged
unavailability, the occupant or occupants, of the house or building erected or to be erected
in every barangay of the country to place the corresponding plate number assigned to the
said house or building within a period of 15 days from the date he or she receives the
notice.
It shall be unlawful for the owner, occupant or any other person to take down, alter,
or deface any number plate or retain an improper number, or to substitute any number on
the house or building other than the one given by the Municipal or City Engineer.
Replacement of worn-out plate shall be allowed.
Any person who violates the Act shall be pay a fine of P500 to P10,000. The
Municipal or City Engineer is empowered to issue notices of violation and summons for
breach of any provision of the Act. Upon a finding of liability at the conclusion of
summary proceedings, the concerned owner or occupant is given a period of one week to
comply with the regulations. Thereafter, the Municipal or City Legal Officer, for and in
behalf of the LGU, shall institute the appropriate collection suit in a court of law. (30) rbb