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.”
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