SAN NICOLAS Mayor Alfredo Valdez Jr. (5th from right) poses with the other LGU chief executives as one of the top ten Galing Pook Awardee (Photo Courtesy of SN Municipality.) |
By Dominic B. dela Cruz
San
Nicolas, Ilocos Norte—The municipal
government here barged into the top 10 local government units recognized as
Galing Pook awardee in the entire country.
In the awarding ceremony held
October 12, 2017 in Manila, San Nicolas mayor Alfredo “Boying” P. Valdez Jr.
thanked all the people behind the prestigious award in their contributions to innovate
practices in local governance of the municipality.
The San Nicolas entry
“Catching Rain” seeks to adopt viable and responsive measures to shifting
weather patterns brought about by climate change through safe, indigenous and
environment friendly means.
Mr. Valdez said that without
a natural body of water to irrigate its agricultural lands, this municipality
found its solution in an indigenous technique by way of “catching the rain”.
One of the project’s
strategies the mayor said is to expand and maximize the construction of earth
dams, water reservoirs and irrigation systems since the municipality already
has two earth dams or Small Water Impounding Projects (SWIP) established in
1998 and 2000.
To date mayor said that the
municipality has seven SWIPs, one in an on-going construction and three more funded
for future implementation, 56 small farm reservoirs, 227 shallow tube wells,
seven creeks, two (2) diversion dams, and one completed catchment dam devoted
for agricultural production.
Study shows that SWIPs, water
reservoirs and irrigation systems prevent siltation and soil erosion. It also
serves as recreational areas and tourist spots when migratory birds flocks.
The program also improved
agricultural literacy of its farmers and other beneficiaries with the
establishment of 24 community learning centers in the all the barangays and
eight farmer field schools.
To sustain the project the
mayor said that they passed various legislations such as an ordinance “Prescribing
the Utilization and Sustainability of Irrigation Waters and Conservation of
Irrigation Facilities and Services (PUSWAC)” to integrate program in the
municipal plans.
The Sanggunian Bayan also
authorized the mayor to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the different
institutions to further strengthen and improve the project implementation.
It was learned that six of
the 10 Galing Pook Foundation awardees came from Luzon: Angono in Rizal—“Participatory and Systemic Governance for
Socio-economic Development; Pasig City—
“Bayanihan sa Daan” Sustainable Transport Program; San Felipe, Zambales—"Monthly Search for Galing Barangay and
Galing Purok; San Luis, Aurora—“Luntiang
Pamayanan ng San Luis; San Nicolas,
Ilocos Norte—“Catching Rain; and Valenzuela
City— “Disiplina Village.
Palompon,
Leyte for their “Integrated
Community-Based Eco-Tourism and Coastal Resource Management” was the lone
awardee in the Visayas Region.
While Cagayan de Oro City’s “Rising Up from the Mud”; Davao del Norte’s “Community-Based
Road Maintenance Contracting”; and General
Santos City’s “Lingap sa Kabataang Ayaw sa Droga (LIKAY DROGA)” were the
awardees from Mindanao.
All finalists received
plaques from the foundation, while each winning LGU received a PHP100,000-check
and Galing Pook marker.
Mr. Valdez said that he will
still be conducting a meeting with the municipal officials and heads of offices
on where to put the cash prize.
Launched in 1993, the Galing
Pook Foundation’s awards has already recognized hundreds of LGU programs that
serve as models of good governance for other communities to adopt. These
programs serve as examples of how to provide innovative solutions to common
problems.
The group evaluated winning
programs based on "positive results and impact, promotion of people's
participation and empowerment, innovation, transferability and sustainability,
and efficiency of program service delivery."
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