“As part of its Performance Governance System (PGS) institutionalization process, City Hall gathered key personnel from front-liners City Health Office (CHO) and the City Social Welfare Development Office (CSWDO), together with the City Human Resource Management Office (CHRMO) in a four-day session of discussion, clarification and alignment with the City’s Development Roadmap last Jan. 10-13 at JJ’s Seafood Village.”

Institute Solidarity of Asia’s Jeremy Pintor and Cyril Benedicto enthusiastically lectured on alignment principles, strategy objectives, and initiatives to the City Health Office (CHO), City Human Resources and Management Office (CHRMO), and City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).

The four-day session witnessed the facilitation skills of Councilor Mariquit Oppus, Councilor Lucille Lagunay, City Administrator Ed Macalandag, and Center for Local Governance and Development Office’s Jessica Bacolta, Estella Margate, and Maritess Dohig.

The seminar was also an avenue to train the Technical Working Team and the Office of Strategy Management’s staff of taking over the cascading session’s key duties such as facilitation and documentation. This is to ensure the continuity of the process, that even without ISA’s physical presence, the program will continue.

Mayor Dan Neri Lim capped off the three-day activity with an encouragement. “It is not enough that you do your task, you must have the passion to see positive results.”

The UP Open University provides opportunities for alternative access to quality higher education by offering baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate degree programs and non-formal courses by distance education. They are committed to develop a system of continuing education for sustaining professional growth and improving technical skills especially for those who cannot leave their jobs or homes for full-time studies. Lastly, they aim to contribute towards upgrading the quality of residential instruction in the University and the educational system of the country, in general, by developing, testing and utilizing innovative instructional materials and technology, and sharing these with other colleges and universities through cooperative programs.

Source: The UP Open University official website, retrieved 01/17/12.

The Local Civil Registry Office is mandated by law to record vital events and other documents affecting the civil status of persons. Their duties and functions include the following: (1) File registrable certificates and documents presented for entry; (2) Compile the registrable certificates monthly for submission to the Civil Registrar-General, National Statistics Office during the first ten (10) days of each month; (3) Issue certified transcripts or copies of registered certificates or documents, upon payment of the proper fees; (4) Accept all registrable documents and judicial decrees and orders affecting the civil status of persons; (5) Administer oaths, free of charge, for civil register purposes; (6) Transcribe and enter immediately upon receipt all registrable documents and judicial decrees affecting the civil status of persons in the appropriate civil registry books; (7) Receive applications for the issuance of marriage license and issue the said license upon payment of the authorized fees; (8) Coordinate with the Office of the Civil Registrar General, National Statistics Office, in conducting educational campaigns for vital registration and assist in the preparation of demographic and other statistics for the local government unit concerned; (9) Reconstruct destroyed civil registry records upon compliance of the pertinent procedures; and (10) Make available at all times the civil registry forms in the office.

Headed by Ms. Marietta Gasatan of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce, Sonieta Labasan of the Vice Mayor’s Office, and Engineer Vicente Loquellano, the event aims to challenge the 24 non-governmental organizations present to push the advocacy for proper garbage segregation.

It was indeed an occasion which would make the environment giggle with delight as it raises consciousness on how to dispose garbage properly.

Forester Nestor Canda specifically talked about RA 9003, a law that mandates household to segregate waste into four (4) categories. The first category is the recyclable or reusable wastes such as paper, plastic, bottles, or stainless steels. These recyclable wastes could either be used again or sold to junk shops. Second is the reduced wastes like fruit peelings, leftover food, dried leaves, or animal wastes. It is advised that these should be buried in a compost.

Third were the special wastes like old and unused electronic gadgets such as TV, computer, DVD, VCD, and the like. These special wastes can also be sold to junk shops. And the fourth category is the residual waste. Candy wrappers, sanitary napkins, diapers, tetra packs, or wastes that couldn’t be destroyed overtime.

The City Solid Waste Management office are tasked to collect these kind of wastes.

Forester Cando emphasized that no undertakings would be successful if the people will not cooperate. He challenged all the participants to give in their contribution and be part of the change.

Engineer Edmund Jimenez of the City Solid Waste Management Office also supported the points that were raised earlier. He said that the City implemented the law last 2001 but only a handful of people were able to follow the system.

Engineer Jimenez expressed his frustration over the huge complaints that he had received concerning this matter. He stressed that the City Government is exerting its effort to address this problem. In fact, they had been attending seminars and conventions on how to address this dilemma.

An open forum was held after the talks.  After lunch, Engineer Vicente Loquellano talked about the Material Recovery Facility Site in Barangay Bool.

The day ended with the participants visiting the MRF site in Barangay Bool.

Barangay Dao and Barangay Bool sent their thank-you’s to the office of the Mayor last week. The letter expressed the joy they have experienced over the asphalted and improved roads — specifically Zamora street and portion of Toledo street — from potholes to spotlessly concrete pavements, the numerous vehicles using these roads daily were also overwhelmed with gladness.

Barangay Booy also echoed the same sentiment when they passed Resolution No. 2011-102, “expressing grateful appreciation to the City Government of Tagbilaran thru the Honorable Mayor Dan Neri Lim for the full support of the priority project of the 6^th Sangguniang Barangay of Booy, the opening of Barangay Roads, Rehabilitation and Completion of Asphalt Overlay at Purok 1, Booy Beach Road and Purok 4 & 5 Bukid Drive Interconnection Barangay Roads, Booy District, Tagbilaran City.” 

Both barangays also expressed their continued support to the Mayor towards advancing the welfare of the City.

She shared her heart towards the needs of the special children. She emphasized the fact that educating them need not be expensive. We really just have to reach them out and exert effort to understand their needs which are kind of different to that of a normal child.

In fact, Dra. Lim opened a clinic which caters specifically to the developmental needs of these children. According to her, many parents expressed their gratitude and appreciation in the intervention that she has done.

She also stressed that Mayor Dan Lim is now letting her voice out her concerns and he also saw the need to recruit her expertise to advance this unique cause.

Then jumping out of the usual ceremony – a Visual Arts and Exhibition was opened to the public. Twenty-six artists participated in the event including non-governmental organizations like RARE, World Vision, CHARL, KALIPI, and BCIC.

They showcased their advocacies through paintings and visual novelties. Various activities were also prepared to enhance the children’s inclination towards the arts. An Acrylic Painting and Photography Workshop were conducted by Glen Lumantao and Liza Macalandag respectively. The day after, the children witnessed an Origami Art Demo of Lester Ouano and Art Mosaic Demo of Maryvelle Forte.

Almost 1, 411 children and adults enjoyed the creative workshops.

The entire occasion was capped off by a healthy ZUMBA dance exercise led by certified Zumba instructors, Jasmin Jabonite and Tripon Dollente.

This is the campaign slogan of the Mabaw Reef Pride Campaign which was launched last October 24, 2011.

The occasion was jumpstarted by a fluvial parade and blessing of the Mabaw Marine Reef Sanctuary which was graced by City Councilors Atty. Doni Piquero, Atty. Butchie Zamora and Genesyl Balbin.

City Agriculturist Perlita Palen and Emilia Roslinda of PROCESS were also present. An ecumenical service was conducted afterwards which was officiated by the various religious sects in Tagbilaran City.

ABC President Faro Cabalit and Barangay Captain Timoteo Maglahus gave a short message. One of the highlights of the event was the unveiling of “Mabi”, a mascot clown fish who symbolizes the consciousness that we should take towards the protection of the Reef.

Atty. Butchie Zamora led the ribbon-cutting of the Mabaw Reef marker.

A motorcade soon followed. Civil Society Organizations, RARE, the City Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, the Academe, and MABI with the fishermen composed the long queue of environmental drum beaters. From Taloto to Tagbilaran City, the group had a brief stop-over in the City Hall Atrium for the official opening of the Children’s Month Celebration.

MABI was one of their special guests, the clown fish became very popular with the school children and even had his picture taken amidst their delight and gleeful smiles.

1. V.P. Inting Street (along NFA) to corner M. Parras Extension, Mansasa District
2. CPG East Continuation, Mansasa District
3. F. Toledo Street, Dao District
4. Taloto-Ubujan-Manga Coastal Road, Tagbilaran City
5. H. Zamora Street, Dao District
6. Booy Beach Road, Booy District
7. M. Parras Extension (from corner circumferential road to corner Mansasa-Dampas Road), Mansasa District
8. Talisay Beach, Taloto District
9. Bukid Drive, Booy District

And another batch of road repair will be conducted — the following roads are scheduled to be worked on these coming months:

1. Asphalting of road at Legarda Street, Dao District
2. Improvement and Concreting at Penaflor Street, Taloto District
3. Asphalting of Jimenez Street, Mansasa District
4. Construction, asphalting, and concreting of road at Upper Sto. Nino Street, Dao District
5. Asphalting of road at Belderol Street, Cogon District
6. Improvement and Asphalting at CPG East/M. Parras to corner M. Parras/V.P. Inting Street, Poblacion I, Tagbilaran City

Volunteers from the City Health Office and Gallares Memorial Hospital also extended their able assistance.

Headed by Dr. Tammy Neblock-Beirne and Corazon Zamora, the team conducted a free clinic which treated approximately 500 patients.

The team simultaneously conducted surgical medical operations at the Gallares Memorial Hospital. They performed 23 operations of Hernia Repair, 15 operations on General Surgery (Thyroid cases), 10 patients underwent reconstructive surgery, 2 operations on hip and knee replacement, and 2 surgical operations on the removal of the uterus.

The total cost of the outreach totaled to almost 4.5 million pesos — which consists of medicines and professional fee — all at the expense of the Kansas Medical Missions Group.

Of course, we won’t let them go home without even saying thank you. On the eve of September 28, the City of Tagbilaran organized a Fellowship Night where Mayor Dan Neri Lim personally expressed his thank-you’s to the whole team, he even gave a token of appreciation to the group.

Nora White, who was the philanthropist behind the mission, received an unusual birthday greetings from a group of teenage boys who danced their heart out with a series of flops and twist, which left the audience open-mouthed. Mrs. White was so dazzled that she even posed comically with the boys.

Also, two internationally-renowned opera singers wowed the audience with their rendition of Phantom of the Opera’s, “Think of Me and All I Ask of You.” The Versatile Band provided the music all throughout the evening.

After the formal program, a dance-all-you can repertoire followed and capped the evening.

To people who have grown accustomed to quick fixes, instant results and shortcuts, there is not much excitement in our activity this afternoon. We expect that during impressive launching activities or triumphant closing ceremonies but not from an event that is transitional and in-between. And yet each of you here would be willing to take issue with me about this. It is not just because you know how important this activity really is but because you can already see the results at this juncture. I won’t argue with you on that because I agree with you. I was merely laying down the predicate that we live in a time when people have become so impatient that they would rather embrace something wrong for as long as it promises immediate results than do what is right if doing so will take time.

And yet that is precisely part of the problem. We give so much premium to speed that we oftentimes sacrifice the results. It is the principle of the runaway train which does not care where it is headed for as long as it gets there fast.

I have a feeling though that all of us here are not exactly concerned about popularity and certainly not about speed. Our goal is to follow the path that we identified in the past towards the direction of our goals.

While we certainly would be glad if we cut short the travel time, we also would not risk doing that if it means exposing the trip to far more danger than we would bargain for.

The point is that the travel at this point is largely in our hands. We know where we came from and we know where we are going. It is up to us whether we will enjoy the trip or abort it just because there is a sudden urge to try something that would divide us.

Few people would argue that people empowerment is here to stay. When we taught people to speak up, it is like letting the genie out of the bottle. You can try to force it back but you cannot expect it to enter by its own volition. People who have experienced how it is to give their opinion on anything will not be expected to shut up for no reason at all.

In itself, there is nothing wrong with that. The problem begins when people are contented with just being critics and opinion-makers instead of being doers and performers. Most of our people have become columnists and commentators instead of hands-on achievers.

In professional media, columnists and commentators live in ivory towers. They are isolated from the real world because they would become vulnerable to partiality and bias when they do so.

Unfortunately, that is also what happens with the aspiring commentator and columnist. They fold up their hands as observers do and simply look for lapses and errors that they can pounce upon to justify their status.

That is not what we need today. We have an over-supply of critics and fault-finders and a shortage of workers. Unless we do something to reverse the trend, we won’t get anything done in our lifetime.

This is the challenge that i would leave with you this afternoon. It is the urgency of rolling up our sleeves and getting down to work that is needed of us. It is bearing in mind at all times that we are a part of this instead of acting like an outsider looking in.

In the final reckoning, it is still all about survival. We are in this together so we might as well make the most of it. We don’t have to fall in love with each other but at least we will learn to work as a team. When we do, we can expect better results.

Thank you and God bless us all.