Magalong’s biggest accomplishment during the first 100 days is laying down the foundation so that the strategic catalytic projects and programs can take off.

BAGUIO CITY – (October 10, 2022) – Inihayag ni mayor Benjamin Magalong ang unang 100 araw ng kanyang mga nagawa sa kanyang panunungkulan sa lungsod ng Baguio bilang public servant sa Monday Flag raising ceremony.

Sa kanyang talumpati ay una nito pinasalamatan at ipagmalaki na bigyan ng pagpupugay ang lahat bilang pagmamarka sa 100 days of Good Governance sa tahanan ng mga tao na ito ang City Hall.

Sinabi ni Magalong,  na noong June 30 ng taong ito ay kanyang inilatag sa taga-Baguio ang diskarte para sa Better Baguio, ang Livable Baguio na kung saan ay pinili ng taga-Baguio ang mabuting pamamahala, isang pamumuno na nag-uugat sa transparency, accountability, trust, compassion, humility, fairness at purity of ntention na ito anya ang kanilang makukuha.

At noong July naman ay nagsama-sama ang Executive at Legislative division upang talakayin at magkasundo kung ano ang magiging Executive-Legislative Agenda para sa terminong ito na dito gagawin ang 7-Point Agenda.

Itatakda ng Agenda na ito ang mga pundasyon para sa ating landas tungo sa pagpigil sa pagkabulok ng lunsod (urban decay) na itinuring na hindi na mababawi sa taong 2043, kung kaya ang pagpapasya na gagawin ngayon ay tutukuyin kung ano ang magiging ating Lungsod sa hinaharap.

“What we decide to do today shall define what our City will be in the future.  It is with this inconvenient truth, that we are now living beyond our city’s carrying capacity, that this Agenda is set,”  Mayor said

“The 7-PointAgenda is a merging of our previous term’s 15-Point Agenda, with the express intention of merging parallel points in order to become an even more effective and measurable agenda,”

Inisa-isa ipinaliwanag ng alkalde ang 7-Point Agenda;

1.On the protection, conservation, and expansion of our natural resources and land cover: we shall define a rational land use as well as revitalize our existing green and blue assets.  It spells out our search for sustainable solutions for transportation and mobility, solid waste, liquid waste, water, drainage, and clean energy;

2. On climate and disaster resilience: we shall align with the national agenda on lowering GHG emissions, expand our adaptation and mitigation programs, alleviate hazard-prone communities, promote risk-scenario planning, and mainstream nature-based solutions;

3. On Urban regeneration: we will continue to advocate gender equality and social inclusion, boosting health and well-being, and expand as well as improve the coverage and access of our residents to basic services.  We will work on sustaining peace and order, providing more housing options facilitating land banking, promoting equity in barangay development, and celebrating indigenous knowledge, and cultural and artistic identity.

4. On youth empowerment: we will ensure their access to basic services, address education-industry gaps, raise access to academic financial aid, support entrepreneurship, and innovation incubation, and most importantly, integrate the youth in city decision-making;

5. On Economic Development and Competitiveness: we will cultivate more economic opportunities, enhance livelihood services, promote innovation and competitiveness, and advance the creative economy as we are a Creative City;

6. On Smart City Management: we will continue to augment our city’s technology infrastructure, expand real-time environmental data acquisition, implement the smart mobility plan, improve citywide connectivity, and involve the academe in smart city research and innovation; and

7. On good governance: all these efforts that I have enumerated will not be made possible if they are not built on a platform of Good Governance.  We will continue to improve revenue generation and financial management, promote volunteerism, champion public participation and transparency, promote accountability and rule of law, and empower barangay governance.

“We have implemented fifty-nine (59) catalytic projects in the first term and we will continue to do so.  They cover a wide array of hard and soft projects that touch on the environment, social services, heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, housing, youth and sports, energy saving, Health Centers, satellite markets, agriculture programs, parks development, multi-purpose halls, and urban mobility.

“We are developing the necessary analytics to measure how these catalytic projects meet the Sustainable Development Goals, for, in the long run, it is imperative that we know that we are balancing properly our social, economic, and environmental programs to attain sustainability and resilience We are likewise committed to implementing programs on climate change adaptation and mitigation.  We will continue reporting our accomplishments and alignments according to the SDGs as well as the Ambisyon 2040 of our country.

“This I can say, there will be no let-up on our efforts, for all of these will lead to one thing – to become the livable community that we need to be.  We need to achieve an urban renewal that would remove the decaying marks of many years.  We can only do this if we share the burden and together work on the solutions.

“The city executives have also set forth their undertaking for the first 100 days to serve as the take-off point to bigger endeavors for the next three (3) years.

On Health, a tracking system for the health provider network is being developed, and the registration and matching of 50,000 individuals to licensed and accredited health centers shall be done as we implement the Universal Health Care System in our City.  The fully immunized children coverage shall be increased as well as that of the pre-natal and post-natal indicators.  The HSO shall develop a “health motivator model” for health risk groups in our city such as the seniors, adolescents, laborers, and frontliners. 

On Civil Registry, the CRO conducted mobile birth registration clinics in the barangays and our civil registry documents will soon be digitalized.

On Buildings, the City Building and Architecture Office will soon complete the database of structures in the central business district and the rest of the city.  The Aurora Hill Health Center is now 80 percent completed,  the Irisan Barangay Hall is 60 percent completed, and the West Quirino Hill Multi-Purpose Hall is 100% completed. The Notice of Award for the construction of the first two buildings at the Luna Terraces Housing Project has been released.   The Post Office Park Redevelopment is now underway.

On Agriculture, the City Veterinary Office has provided to 6 young farmer groups agri-enterprise ventures, as well as livelihood assistance to families in our Urban Agriculture Project Plans for greenhouses as well as rabbit and chicken multiplier breeder facilities, are being done.

The City Engineering Office continues with their sidewalk recovery and improvement on roads and sidewalks that are within our schools and universities.  Raised crosswalks fronting schools and barangay halls are being completed, loading and unloading areas had been identified, and the road-right-of-way recovery is very much in implementation.

On social services, our Social Welfare and Development Office has prepared for the Adoption of the Social Protection-Vulnerability Assessment Manual which shall serve as the framework for strategic planning and implementation of social protection programs in the city.  It shall continue with the capacity building of service providers for the implementation of the Sustainable Livelihood Program, and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations.

On solid waste, liquid waste, water monitoring, air monitoring, urban regreening, parks rehabilitation, land use, and forest regeneration, our CEPMO, GSO, CPDO, and CDRRMO are continuing on with their database development.  We can only act properly if we have the necessary information to guide our decisions.  We have hosted an Environment Summit for the Youth and the Children so that they will know the problems in the City and they can come forth and help us correct these challenges by way of research and innovation.

The Terms of Reference for the development of the Conservation Management Plan for the Dominican Heritage Hub had been completed.  The output of this undertaking will provide us with the outlook on how we will implement the first heritage conservation project in the city for adaptive reuse.  The CPDO, CEPMO, and Tourism Office are working on this.

On Human Resources, they conducted a check on how we are meeting our departmental objectives as set in our  Performance Governance System.  The result of this shall be the basis for a forthcoming strategy refresh and town hall meetings.  Several workshops were conducted to prepare us for our Organizational Development.  The proposed organizational structures of all departments are now under review by the Project Management Team.

And from our Finance Committee, the updating of parks entrance fees, the online payment billing, and collection as well as the planning for the conduct of the MSME Summit as well as an Investors’ Summit are underway.

For the barangay livable community program, the CPDO has started going to the barangays to plan along with the residents on how they can transform to become a livable community.  This will continue for the rest of the year.  All 128 barangays will be covered.  The parameters for the selection of lots for land banking had been developed by the Assessor’s Office.

A barangay AIP TRACKER was developed for us to monitor not only the planning and budgeting of barangay projects.  We aim to improve our systems to assure that there is equitable distribution of projects selected for implementation in the barangays.  This will be a major work in progress and we enjoin the barangays to actively take part in the planning and submission of barangay priorities.

We are firmly staying on the course that we have set, we are likewise resolved to seize opportunities to help us arrive faster at meeting our goals. Soon we will be in a conversation on setting out our vision for the Baguio that we want for 2043.  We need one identity, one goal, and one vision.

This report provides you with the full measure of what had been done in the last 100 days and what will be done in the months to come.  We will continue with the remarkable changes that were started and move towards renewed growth for the new normal, and that decent life that everyone hopes for.

Good governance will reap its rewards.  Good governance will be implemented at all levels of our day-to-day decisions.  Good governance is that mighty force to get us past our challenges, our inconvenient truth.  Good governance will bring us out of the pandemic, towards healing, towards unity.

“This I say, we will bring Baguio to that safe, smart, and livable state that it should be.  We not only owe this to ourselves, but we owe it to the succeeding generations.  Magalong concluded. ###