Staff reporter
Laoag City—This city has truly come a long way.
On its 50th Charter Day anniversary, city
officials and residents came together to celebrate what they—and the people
before them—have accomplished in a week-long celebration that culminated on
June 19.
One of the most recent and major change that propelled
the city to progress was also remembered. The passage of the Laoag City
Investment Incentive Code of 2007 was primarily the engine that drove the city
to progress and development as this opened the city to big time investors to do
business here.
Under the said code, the city welcomed and encouraged
domestic and foreign investments to establish economic and enterprises that
would utilize substantial amount of labor, raw materials and natural resources
of the city. As a result, national and local investors boomed and this could be
attributed to the strict implementation of the streamlined procedures in the
processing of business permits which was further strengthened by the
accreditation of the city to ISO 2009-1008 standards and the responsiveness of
the business owners in the declaration of their gross receipts and prompt
payment of their taxes.
Relative to this, the city government of Laoag under the
initiative of former Mayor and now Vice Mayor Michael V. Fariñas thru the
Sangguniang Panlungsod passed a city ordinance honoring the top outstanding
taxpayers of the city annually starting in 2012.
Celebration
The festivities were kicked off by the Laoag @ 50 Shootfest
and Golden Fun Run on June 13.
This was followed by a program commending the top
business taxpayers in the city on June 15.
On June 17, the National Child Development Center at
Barangay 2 was inaugurated followed by a free pap smear and HIV/AIDS testing as
well as a free skin/dermatology consultation courtesy of the Ilocos Norte
Medical Society on June 18. Later on the evening of June 18, the Mardi Gras and
Mujeres Gold was held at the City Hall Auditorium.
Golden baby
On June 19, “Golden Sunshine Baby: was born at about 12:04 at the Laoag
City General Hospital (LCGH) with Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas personally
assisting in the delivery.
The child was named as Sonny John Mark of Barangay 62-B
Navotas this city and the parents was given a 100 percent discount at the city
hospital along with a one year free consultation.
The LCGH also gave 50 percent discount on all fees paid
at the hospital at the said date.
It was also announced that some business establishments
in the city of Laoag offered as high as 50 percent discounts the whole day of
June 19 in support of the “Golden Celebration”.
Charter day
On June, a thanksgiving mass was held at the St. Williams Cathedral
followed by a flag raising and a program in front of the City Hall.
The program included an inter-faith prayer; launching of
the Coffee Table Book “Sagut Nga Arapaap Iti Masakbayan”; time capsule laying; cutting
of the 50th anniversary cake; blessing of new city government vehicles;
distribution of kabuhayan projects, open house of City Hall and the opening of the
Zero Waste Exhibit at the Laoag City Auditorium.
Cityhood history
Laoag Vice Mayor Michael V. Fariñas related the cityhood
history of Laoag starting with the law that created it 50 years ago.
Mr. Fariñas personally thanked the late former
Congressman Simeon M. Valdez, former Congressman Antonio Raquiza, and former Laoag
Mayor Eulalio F. Siazon who initiated and led the cityhood drive.
He stressed that it was the late President Ferdinand E.
Marcos who was then the Senate President who was responsible in the passage of
the said bill during the closing days of the regular session of the 5th
Congress. Thus, Laoag became a city in 1965 during the administration of the
late Mayor Eulalio F. Siazon.
Imee joins celebration
Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos was the
special guest of the occasion where she congratulated the city and its people
for its “50 years of strong existence.”
According to Ms. Marcos, it was a great privilege and
honor to be a part of this “tremendous undertaking as it truly showed Laoag has
lived up to that promise as Laoag is now a haven of businesses for improvement
is it continues its progress for the people of Laoag”.
She added that as a new Laoag resident having transferred
her voter’s registration to Laoag from Batac, she said she will now also “dream
about Laoag City in the next 50 or even 100 years”.
Lucky CVF
Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas thanked all the people who
initiated the cityhood of Laoag and all the people who joined the weeklong
celebration.
Ms. Farinas said she is very lucky as the golden charter
day celebration fell during her incumbency and she considers this a very
memorable experience.
The time capsule laid in a chamber in front of the city
hall contains a personal letter of the mayor to whoever would be at the helm of
the city on its “Diamond Charter Celebration” in 2040.
Ms. Fariñas did not give a formal message during the
occasion, rather she chatted with a six year-old child and asked him about the
golden charter day celebration and what the child expects in the next 25 years.
Ms. Fariñas added that all that transpired during the
“golden” celebration will be put in a disc and will also be placed in the time
capsule chamber for the people in 2040 to know what happened during the Golden
Charter Day Celebration and what Laoag looked like 25 years ago.
Concert ends celebration
The Dios Ti Agngina concert featuring Manolo Pedrosa,
Jasmine Curtis, Eric Santos, Lloyd Saragosa and the Climaz Band was held at the
Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in the evening of June 19 to herald the end of
the festivities.
June 19 was declared as a special non-working holiday in
Laoag City under Proclamation No. 1010 by the Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa
Jr.
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