The Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU) has been renamed Quezon City University, by virtue of a new charter under Ordinance No. SP – 2812, series of 2019, passed by the City Council.
Councilor Precious Hipolito Castelo, principal author of the ordinance, said that since the new charter complies with the requirements laid out by the Commission on Higher Education, QCPU (now QC University) now qualifies as a local university and a beneficiary of Republic Act 10931 or the free tuition law.

The ordinance empowers the city-owned educational institution to enhance and strengthen its programs and make it more responsive to the challenges of the current education and business climates.

In addition, the ordinance would enable the city university to provide more support to the goals and policies of the national government, such as the provision of universal access to tertiary education free tuition for students in state colleges or universities, among others.

The new charter would enable Quezon City University to conduct more researches and advance studies in other fields, as well as provide innovations in teaching, research, and faculty development.

In 1994, Quezon City Polytechnic was established as an institution ‘for the training and development of technical and technician manpower skills’. It was later elevated into a tertiary, higher education institution in 1997, to be known as Pamantasang Politekniko ng Lungsod Quezon or Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU).

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   The Quezon City Government has restricted the use of electronic-cigarettes (e-cigarettes) or vaping in public places.
  Under Ordinance SP No. 2737, series of 2018, the use of e-cigarettes indoors is prohibited in churches or places of worship, hospitals or health centers, government offices, educational and recreational facilities intended for minors and public conveyances.
  In other enclosed places not mentioned in the list, the owner, proprietor, manager or administrator of the place must post a clear and noticeable sign in every entrance of the building that says: “Use of e-cigarettes is Allowed Inside”.
  The ordinance also requires owners and administrators of buildings or establishments with enclosed areas that are open to the public, such as private workplaces and other places to designate a vaping area within the building, which may be in an open space or a separate area with proper ventilation. The designated vaping area must not be located within the same room that has been designated as a smoking area.
  Aside from these restrictions, the ordinance also prohibits retailers to sell, distribute, promote and advertise e-cigarettes to minors.
   The penalties for violating this ordinance include the following:
  1st offense – a fine of not less than five hundred pesos (PhP 500.00) but not more than one thousand pesos (PhP1000.00)
• 2nd offense – a fine of more than one thousand pesos (PhP1000.00) but not more than two thousand and five hundred pesos (PhP2500.00)
• 3rd offense – In addition to a fine of not less than two thousand and five hundred pesos (PhP2500.00) but not more than five thousand pesos (PhP5000.00), the business permit and license to operate of the offender may be cancelled or revoked.

The Rustan Supercenters, Inc. turned over the third batch of e-trikes to selected barangays, as part of their Green Fund Project: “E-trikes for Community Safety and Security” at the Shopwise Commonwealth.
Ms. Frederika C. Rentoy, Department Head of the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD), said in a message that the use of e-trikes would greatly contribute to the environment. She also encouraged the citizens to bring reusable bags to help lessen the use of single-use plastic bags. She acknowledged the good partnership between the City Government and Rustan Supercenters, Inc. (RSCI) in undertaking environmental projects that will benefit the City.
 
To strengthen the partnership between the beneficiary Barangays and Rustan Supercenters, Inc., a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by the RSCI Vice President on Human Resources, Roland Rowel Villareal and Barangay Captains.
The following thirty four (34) Barangays were given two (2) e-trikes each:
1st Batch
1.    Kamuning
2.    South Triangle
3.    Sikatuna Diliman
4.    Botocan Diliman
5.    Krus na Ligas
6.    UP Campus
7.    UP Village
8.    Teacher’s Village East    

2nd Batch
1.    Magsaysay
2.    Bago Bantay (Sto. Cristo)
3.    Ugong Norte
4.    White Plains
5.    St. Ignatius
6.    Socorro
7.    Pansol
8.    Loyola (same as Xavierville)
9.    Camp Crame
10.    Laging Handa    

3rd Batch
1.    Fairview
2.    North Fairview
3.    Greater Lagro
4.    Novaliches Proper
5.    Gulod
6.    Kaligayahan
7.    Culiat
8.    New Era
9.    Sauyo
10.    Talipapa
11.    Commonwealth
12.    Matandang Balara
13.    Payatas
14.    Batasan Hills
15.    Bagong Silangan
16.    Holy Spirit
 
 
Lastly, Mr. Denmark of Star 8, the supplier of e-trikes, demonstrated how to operate and maintain the e-trikes. Emergency information was also discussed to the Barangays.

Representatives from various departments and offices of the Quezon City Government mapped out strategies to strengthen climate change adaptation, mitigation, climate finance and stakeholder engagement during the Climate Action Planning (CAP) workshop organized by the QC Environmental Policy and Waste Management Department (EPWMD) and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group last March 14 at Richmonde Hotel Ortigas.

Funded by the United Kingdom Government’s Global Future Cities Prosperity Fund, the CAP programme is a two-year engagement designed to enhance the city’s climate action plan and deliver action consistent with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, and address both the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.

Through this partnership, Quezon City joins more than seventy C40 cities around the world who have made a commitment to deliver transformative and inclusive climate actions to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

During the workshop, the participants mapped out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) associated with Quezon City’s socio-economic and environmental context, climate governance structures, capacity and policies, climate targets, and baseline information. The participants exchanged ideas on how to strengthen climate change adaptation, mitigation, stakeholder engagement and climate financing to achieve bold climate action.

Mr. Marvin Lagonera, C40 City Adviser for Quezon City, explained that the workshop output will provide focused recommendations and an evidence base to guide the delivery of CAP. It will feed into the Strategic CAP Appraisal report, which is a comprehensive technical document defining the climate actions baseline, capacity gaps, and strategic recommendations for the climate action planning process.

The CAP Programme will cover a wide range of technical support including trainings, workshops, peer-to-peer collaboration, stakeholder engagement, planning tools, regional exchanges and others.

Technical partners for the CAP Programme, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability-Southeast Asia Secretariat together with the Manila Observatory, facilitated the conduct of the workshop. They also presented their initial findings and recommendations based on the Strategic Appraisal draft report. As technical partners, ICLEI Southeast Asia and the Manila Observatory will support the delivery of CAP in Quezon City.

During the workshop, social, environmental and economic benefits from climate action, such as health benefits, energy savings and improved air quality, were also discussed. Ms. Milag San Jose-Ballestero, C40 Regional Director for East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania, highlighted the importance of an inclusive climate action approach to ensure that vulnerable groups and sectors benefit from climate action and no one gets excluded in the process.

One of the objectives of CAP is to measure the social, environmental and economic benefits expected from implementing the plan, and improve the equitable distribution of these benefits across the city’s population.