DNL’s Speech during the Open Conference on Public
Governance System (PGS) sponsored by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia
(ISA) at Makati Shangri-La Hotel on August 10, 2005.
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| ``The Little City With Big Dreams`` |
I have a dream, of building a better city for the future generations –
Tagbilaran, now the gateway and service center for Bohol’s eco-tourism. It is
an opportunity waiting to be explored.
With a population of 89,000 spread in 15 barangays over a land area of
3,270.19 hectares, it has become a nodal point of education in Central Visayas
as well as from the neighboring provinces.
Tagbilaran, a city of: home-loving families, peaceful people,
ecologically-balanced environment, culturally rich heritage.
A people who deserved the best there is in life.
But my dreams are mired by the threats my city is facing today.
There is little optimism left in the present generations. What is left of our
ideals, our principles, our visions and our beliefs are slowly wilting up as
our people valiantly struggle to survive in a country where most have given up
hope.
I have been asked why I persevered in aspiring for public office after two
failed congressional tries and three unsuccessful mayoralty bids. My answer is
simple: I want to make a difference among my people.
When I won last year, I got my chance to prove my worth. I knew I must give my
best, not so much for personal satisfaction, but for the realization that I
will probably be the last real hope for my people in a long time.
I must credit the present crop of leaders for proving that political
differences are not an obstacle to good governance. Despite counting only one
out of 12 councilors in my slate, the executive-legislative relationship is
everything that I can hope for.
As I expected, our people know sincere public service when they see one. In a
survey, we were given a 71% acceptability rating and 73% for our programs and
policies in local governance. This is definitely a vote of confidence not so
much for me but to the direction that the present administration is taking.
Just a year after assuming office, the present administration has made
significant changes that have made our people sit up and take notice.
We have instituted the Blue Card Hospitalization Program that assures
indigents of prompt and quality service denied them in the past.
This has to be made a priority since medical attention cannot wait. As
Tagalogs love to say, of what use is the hay if the horse is already dead?
We also have taken significant steps involving the education of our children.
We have distributed free school uniforms and supplies to all public elementary
pupils aside from freeing parents the burden of paying power and water bills
collected from them in the past.
As proof of our political will, we brought down the bureaucracy from as high
as 3,000 casual workers monthly to as low as 300 at present. This is a
reallocation of resources from political patronage in the past to poverty
alleviation.
We also devised an early retirement program to rightsize the bureaucracy
without affecting the morale of the employees.
Tagbilaran has been noted for its well-maintained peace and order, made
possible through consistent and visible campaigns against illegal drugs,
wanted persons and illegal gambling.
We have generated a baseline data under the Local Poverty Reduction Action
Program (LPRAP) targeted to update poverty profiles per barangay.
There is not much to start with.
The city’s IRA is P135,259,626.00. Its total income is P261,198,626.00, and
with no major industries to spark economic activity.
Our supposed economic ventures, particularly the Tagbilaran Central Market and
the Integrated Bus Terminal, in fact are being subsidized by the city. Instead
of generating income, they are actually using up the city’s precious
resources.
It is my belief that while there are problems that demand swift action, the
seeds for the future must be planted now. Long-range planning does not deal
with future decisions, but they deal with the future through present
decisions.
We take off from four perspectives we have used as “lenses” for our
development goals and ordered according to the city’s priority.
Like most localities in the country today, there is a need to recover not only
our economic and political moorings. We need to reaffirm our moral and
spiritual compass. That cannot be done overnight. If it has to start, we have
to start right now, and with future generations.
From the current bustling city, we are establishing a new growth center where
facilities, road network, drainage system and other amenities are far better
than what exist.
The new growth center shall give rise to a city within a city – and that city
shall be a dream city, where people enjoy comfortable lives and one that they
can proudly call home. Since we dare to dream, let us dream big.
We intend to conquer poverty through a feasible and integrated plan in
uplifting the lives of the many Tagbilaranons.
Efforts in effective partnership between the city’s executive and legislative
department drawn through the ELA and partner NGOs, POs, business, academe,
church and other sectors is a patent display of responsive team governance.
Consensus and cooperation are always better than exclusion.
Investing in all these are all about making the lives of Tagbilaranons better.
The current reality holds that there is hope for Tagbilaran, and that we hold
a vibrant future in our hands. Tagbilaran has so much to offer. The vast yet
inadequately tapped potential is there.
We are looking for partners who shall share our vision so we can take off in
our development initiatives and goals.
This may not be a very promising proposition to many people. But as I said
earlier, Tagbilaran is an opportunity waiting to be explored. More
importantly, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for a better climate. On the
other hand, we have a golden opportunity to turn things around.
This is a community of people whose roots run deep, conservative yet
aggressive, humble yet dignified, hard-working yet laid back, religious yet
open-minded.
I may have my own prejudices but there is no other community I will gladly
work with to turn things around than Tagbilaran City.
I believe that our biggest resources, our people, have largely remained
untapped. Together, we are making things happen. we have to.
In the little city with big dreams, the future starts now. |
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