THE consumers in the city must be protected from scalpers selling tickets at exorbitant prices. This is the reason behind the proposed ordinance filed by City Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. seeking to penalize and punish those who would sell tickets for a particular activity or undertaking at exorbitant prices and outside of the ticket office or official booth designated for such purpose.
Dubbed as the “Anti-Scalping Ordinance in the City of Baguio” the proposal shall make it unlawful in the city for any scalper or person to sell any airline, bus, theatre, concert tickets and such other similar undertakings, with or without profit, or for any person to buy any airline, bus, theatre, or concert and similar undertakings outside the ticket office or official booth or place designated for the purpose.
Councilor Yangot pointed out in his proposed ordinance that, “In cases where an event, game trip or voyage is well-received by patrons, scalping has been a very rampant practice among people desiring to make quick money thus purchasing tickets from unauthorized sellers and which carries a huge amount of risk. Economically, unregistered businesses such as these deprive local government coffers the much needed taxes in order to deliver government services and infrastructure”.
He also mentioned that from a consumer’s perspective patrons are forced to purchase admission tickets from scalpers at exorbitant prices and that they have no (patrons) means later on to ask for a refund in case the event or activity is cancelled. He likewise added that there is the possibility of the patron being scammed by the scalper in the event that the tickets are not delivered or the tickets are later on discovered to be counterfeit.
The proposed measure shall be applicable to all local residents and individuals operating with or without ticket offices or official booths within the territorial jurisdiction of the City of Baguio.
The prohibited acts mentioned in the proposal include any scalper or person selling any airline, bus, theatre, concert tickets and similar undertakings, whether for profit or not, or for any person to buy such airline, bus, theatre, concert tickets and similar undertakings outside the ticket office or official booth or place designated for the purpose, and it is likewise prohibited for any person to finance, manage or operate such scalping activity which is pernicious and inimical to public interest.
For any violation of the proposed prohibition, the propose ordinance provides for a punishment in the form of a fine of not more than five thousand pesos (P5,000) or by imprisonment of not more than three (3) months or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.
Finally, Councilor Yangot emphasized in his proposal that the local government has an obligation to protect the public and see to the latter’s welfare citing Section 458, (a)(1)(v) of Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991 which provides in part, that the City Council may enact ordinances intended to prevent, suppress and impose appropriate penalties for xxx fraudulent devices and ways to obtain money or property xxx and such other activities inimical to the welfare and morals of the inhabitants of the city.
As defined in the proposed ordinance, a scalper is someone selling an airline, bus, theatre, concert tickets and similar undertakings with or without profit outside the ticket office or official booth or place designated for the purpose, while scalping is general defined as the mass purchase and resell of tickets at more expensive prices.