Mayor: No room for traditional politics, corruption

Mayor Benjamin Magalong capped his inaugural speech last June 30, 2022 with a declaration of victory over traditional politics in the city.

“We are creating a movement and we are changing mindsets.  Long gone are the ways of the past. Traditional politics has now lost its worth and value.  We are proud to declare that in the City of Baguio, we have made traditional politics irrelevant,” the mayor said.

In his speech, the mayor reiterated that there will be no room for corruption in the city as he announced a breakthrough in an ongoing investigation of what he called a “syndicated corruption in the city market and office of the city treasury” started three weeks ago.

“Soon we will be filing criminal and administrative cases against those involved,” he said.

“The City had already lost millions of pesos over the years because of the backward way of thinking ‘What’s in it for me?’ Rarely did they ask themselves, ‘What is the best for the people of Baguio?’,” he said.

The mayor said the movement for good governance “is the right way forward especially for a challenging and difficult future” and urged people to make it a virus transmitted within the city and to other localities to create a chain of positive changes.

“Good governance goes beyond traditional politics and is not only focused on fighting corruption. It is about empowerment, inclusiveness and authentic leadership.  It is about a politics of hope, not a politics of frustration; not a politics of hate, but a politics of good will and mutual understanding;  not a politics of criticism, but a politics of encouragement; and it is not a politics of lies, but a politics of truth,” he said.

“Imagine the impact that this can have on the entire nation if others can replicate what we are doing in Baguio,” the mayor said.

“We are stewards called upon to create a legacy that we can proudly pass on to the next generations. In our lifetime, we will not be able to experience and see firsthand the Baguio that we all envision, but our children will. Let us dedicate everything that we do for them,” he said. – Aileen P. Refuerzo