Skip to main content

Laoag City: Making things happen


Just MoVe Forward and Create Valuable Future



By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter

Laoag City—The Sunshine City of Laoag and the Northern Gateway of the Philippines will continuously move forward thru the leadership of multi-awarded Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas embodied in her vision of the city becoming the Metropolitan Center of the North.

The vision encompasses the accomplishments, awards and citations of Mrs. Fariñas garnered since she started in office in 2013.

Livable, safe and progressive city
In 2018, Laoag was named as third Most Livable City in the Philippines conferred by the Manila Times. On top of this, the city also won the Regional Gawad Kalasag Award from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Office of the Civil Defense; and first Place in the Pillar of Infrastructure in the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index, Region I, by DTI and National Competitiveness Council.

The Dept. of Interior and Local Government also gave the city government the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping passer; as it also emerged as a National Awardee in Emergency/Disaster Management Award.

The Manila Times also conferred the Philippine Model Cities award to the city.

The city government, under Mrs. Fariñas, also proved its efficiency in terms of disasters as it garnered the Gantimpala Agad Award under the Mamamayan Muna Program by the Civil Service Commission Regional Office No. 1 for CDRRMC and LCSARG’s for their responsiveness to the public, resourcefulness, dedication and commitment to duty despite great risk in undertaking a successful rescue.


An efficient, transparent and biz-friendly city
The city government, with Mrs. Fariñas at the helm, also proved efficient and transparent as it won third place as the Most Competitive City in Government Efficiency, Infrastructure and Resiliency, in Region 1, an award from the Department of Trade and Industry, National Competitiveness Council and DILG; as well as receiving the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) from the DILG in recognition of its efforts in advancing the principles of accountability and transparency in local governance.

With Mrs. Fariñas on the lead, Laoag was recognized as the Most Business-Friendly City and subsequently a Hall of Fame Awardee-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the city government’s openness and full support for business investors.

Environment-, child-friendly
On top of this, the city also won the Best NGO-LGU Partnership CY 2015 for “Sustaining the Implementation of Integrated Solid Waste Management Program through the Public-Private Partnership Scheme” from the Regional Development Council I.

Mrs. Fariñas also spearheaded the campaign for waste segregation in the city for more efficient waste management. She has also presided in the construction of a proper sanitary landfill in the city to further improve waste management. This project, however, was stalled this year following the rejection of the 2019 budget by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

The city also became a Champion and Hall of Fame Awardee as the Cleanest, Greenest, Safest and Greenest LGU, CY 2015 (City Category also from RDC I.

Proving that it cares about the future, Mrs. Fariñas’ thrust to care more towards children garnered the city the Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance from the Council for the Welfare of Children. She achieved this by putting up children’s centers all around the city. The said center provides the building blocks for young children through pre-school education and proper nutrition.

Int’l awards
The city also received international accolades under Mrs. Fariñas’ leadership.

In 2014, the city won the European Awards for Best Practices from the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR) based in Brussels, Belgium. ESQR recognized the outstanding commitment, support and results in Quality Management Strategies of the city government; and also awarded the Best Quality Leadership Award to Mrs. Fariñas

Agriculture powerhouse
Even as it is serves as the engine of growth and progress in the province, Mrs. Fariñas’ administration has also focused on agriculture in the city. It boosted optimum production in agriculture resulting in food sufficiency in the community and an improved quality of life of farmers and fisherfolks.

The city government has also provided crop production and fishery development program to sustain food sufficiency and food security and to increase income of farmers and fisherfolks. This includes production support programs through the provision of planting materials, seedlings and high-quality seeds and agricultural inputs; support on fishery production; provision of technical assistance on research and development; agricultural support facilities; provision of agricultural farm machineries and equipment; extension support, education and training Services; and institutional development program.

This focus resulted in several notable awards in agriculture that included the Hall of Fame Award from National Corn Quality Award in 2015; Good Agricultural Practices for Certified Mango Farm, awarded to Ricardo Tolentino, a Laoag resident by the Department of Agriculture; Regional Outstanding CAFC, Regional Outstanding Fisherfolk (Fish Culture) and Regional Outstanding Small Animal Raiser in the Regional Gawad Saka Search for Outstanding Agricultural Achievers by the Department of Agriculture, Regional Field Unit I.

Agserbi/24/7
Mrs. Fariñas’ pet project has become one of her most important and impactful achievements for the city.

Agserbi 24/7 brought local governance to people’s doorsteps, providing immediate, wide-ranging and comprehensive delivery of various services closer to the people to address the needs of barangay folks.

Services rendered include message cast system, “Libreng Tawag sa Abroad”—Canada and USA, free medical/dental check-up, and livelihood skills training; distribution of day care kits, mobile registration and biometrics from the local elections office, free mobile registration of birth, free pap smear, distribution of point of care ID cards, support for job-seekers through the “Trabaho Mo, Sagot ko” program, free haircut, distribution of fruit-bearing and ornamental plants, scholarship grants from “Iskolar ni MVF”,  senior citizens socialization, vaccination of dogs and cats and distribution of dog tags, repair of street lights and replacement of busted bulbs, fire safety tips from the Bureau of Fire Protection, demonstration on self-defense, conduct of plant propagation, urban gardening and bio-fertilizer demo, acceptance of real property tax Payment and milk-vigorous feeding.

The city government has also given wheelchairs, quadcanes, crutches, walkers and canes to persons with disabilities (PWDs) plus discount cards through the program.

Senior citizens, PWDs support
Laoag City has also helped enhance of senior citizens and persons with disabilities’ (PWDs) social well-being thru services that uplift their social, moral and economic condition. This support is also open for those who are less fortunate, victims of social injustice and other special sectors of the community.

Services include integrated social services, senior citizens welfare program, disabled persons welfare program, child and youth welfare program, special social services, livelihood programs, emergency assistance and skills training services.

Health for all
Mrs. Fariñas also started the “health for all program” in the city.

The program assures Laoag residents of an efficient and effective delivery of medical and dental services as well as adequate and state of the art hospital services from the Laoag City General Hospital (LCGH).

LCGH offers CT scan– 64-slice CT scan machine; has its own cancer unit (Oncology), a special unit that manages and treats patients with tumors, and mass; eye center which specializes in eye treatment, correction and surgery; hemodialysis unit for dialysis treatment for acute and chronic kidney failure; mammogram unit for breast screening; GLEDCO Pharmacy, a public-private partnership, and a non-Philippine Drug Formulary pharmacy and CVF HEART geriatric ward, a hospital emergency admission response treatment for the elderly.

Education and youth training
Mrs. Fariñas has also put premium on education as the city’s chief executive.

Records show that the city government has given PHP19,635,000 worth of scholarship grants facilitated to deserving college students through the Laoag City College Scholarship Program (LCCSP) and PHP12,309,250 worth of scholarship grants to pupils and students of the ISKOLAR NI MVF Inc. This translated to 1,372 college scholars and 40,951 elementary pupils and high school students.

To boost holistic growth for the youth, Mrs. Fariñas continued with the “Sama Summer Together with MVF” program, named after her late husband former Laoag Mayor and Vice Mayor Michael V. Fariñas.

This program offers free training for children and teenagers every April and May. The trainings cover many fields in sports, academics and arts.

The program began in 2005 as a brainchild of the late Mr. Fariñas. Mrs. Fariñas later instituted this as an ex-0fficio member of the 6th Sangguniang Panlungsod with the primary aim to help the youth in sports, skills and intellectual development during the summer season.

An estimated 15,600 participants joined the “Sama Summer Together with MVF” from 2013 to 2018; with 502 parents also participating in the skills development training, an introductory innovation of the program for interested adults willing to know the basics of baking, cooking and beauty culture.

The city government has also organized inter-school sports tournaments in the city to provide an avenue for the city’s young athletes to develop their craft and athletic aptitude in preparation for higher sports competition.  Since its inception in 2010, several schools continuously support the program with 46 schools participating this year.

As another means to help the city’s less fortunate students, the city government have effectively implemented and has continuously implemented the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) annually. SPES is a project of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in coordination with the Laoag City government to help enrich the lives of poor but deserving students and out-of-school youths by providing them with summer jobs. There were 2,076 beneficiaries of the SPES from 2013-2018

Security
In her two terms as mayor, Mrs. Fariñas has strengthened the city’s peace and order situation through various means.

She led the organization of the local Barangay Peacekeeping Action team (BPAT) to help the local police in both security and intelligence gathering against possible criminal and terrorist activities.

Various trainings and workshop on disaster preparedness as well as emergency drills were also implemented.

The city government has also organized a more efficient and effective rescue and relief teams.

Looking to the future
Mrs. Fariñas, however is still not content.

She pointed out that there are a lot more to be done for the city. She stressed that the city should be as dynamic as the progress and development that continuously happen to the city. She explained that the progress and development we now enjoy should also be reinforced by further improving the city to make way for the progress to continue.

She stressed that the time the city stops improving is also the time progress and development will stop.

She also noted that with the way the city is moving forward, we should not be stalled by petty politicking saying: “It is not about what we said or promised to do; but about what we have done, what we’re doing and what we’ll continue to do.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.