by Leonardo Micua
New buildings must be elevated one meter higher from baseline
Henceforth, new residential, commercial, and institutional buildings to be constructed in Dagupan City will have an elevation of at least one meter above the baseline, under a new ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) on February 6, with Vice Mayor Bryan Kua as presiding officer.
Enacted on motion of Councilors Karlos Reyna, Jose Netu Tamayo, and Michael Fernandez was Draft Ordinance No. 0-011-2026 seeking to establish a flood-resilient building elevation requirement for all residential, commercial, and institutional structures in Dagupan, and providing for its implementation, enforcement, and penalties.
Councilor Reyna said that because Dagupan City is flood-prone, it can no longer afford to build structures at the same level as the flood that comes twice and even thrice every year, noting that families, businesses, and the city government are spending millions of pesos in repairing damages that could have been prevented through smarter and safer building standards.
The newly approved ordinance set a simple yet powerful rule: new buildings must be built higher than the flood level. A one-meter minimum business elevation, according to the ordinance proponents, protects homes, secures investments, keeps businesses operating, and reduces  the enormous public cost of disaster response and recovery;
Covered by the ordinance are all new residential, commercial, institutional, and mixed-use buildings, including all subdivisions, housing projects, Â business development, and major reservations within the territorial jurisdiction of Dagupan City.
Under the ordinance, all buildings shall have their Finished Floor Elevation  (FFE) at least one meter higher than the established road elevation or floor datum, whichever is higher. The Office of the Building Official (OBO), in coordination with the City Engineering Office and CDRRMO, shall determine the reference road level or floor datum for each site.
No building Permit, Locational Clearance, Development Permit, Â Occupancy Permit, or Investment Incentive shall be issued unless the applicant complies with the elevation requirement.
On the other hand, the City Investment Board shall treat compliance as a mandatory condition for project approval and incentives.
Existing buildings are exempted and shall not be required to comply unless they undergo major renovation, or they are substantially damaged by disaster, or they apply for a change of use or expansion.
The ordinance likewise provides that no certificate of Occupancy will be issued without verified compliance with the one-meter-high minimum floor level,
Penalties for violators include suspension or denial of permission; administrative fines as provided by existing ordinances; and the remedies allowed by law.