TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte
– Calbayog City has made it to the first batch of fifteen dream
cities of the country, planting the seeds of hope for a brighter
tomorrow.
Calbayog City Mayor
Mel Senen Sarmiento has always been known to have the flair for
introducing innovative ways of doing things and has been actively
participating and winning in the League of Cities projects and
competitions.
The Dream cities is a
project of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia chaired by its
president Jesus Estanislao who said that the program on good and
participatory governance and responsible citizenship started six years
ago.
What sets the Dream
Cities apart is that their mayors have adopted the ISA’s public
governance score card system, taken from the
Harvard Business
School,
and are trying to make it work.
Mayor Sarmiento said
that the local government officials are working with leaders of
various sectors of the community in order to meet the city’s visions
and goals. He said that this is not a temporary set up or token
gesture of consultation because the multisectoral coalitions have been
created through local laws, ensuring their continuation even with
changes in local leadership.
Mayor Sarmiento added
that the coalitions meet regularly to track the progress of the
programs of the city government and the various sectors. This tracking
system will ensure that the targets or goals are met.
Calbayog as a Dream
City has and is working on this goal on “being one island, one people,
one culture.” This according to Mayor Sarmiento will make the City of
Calbayog
more livable as he has always been advocating that the government of
Calbayog is not working for the people but rather working with the
people.
The other Dream Cities
and their goals are Cebu, the most livable City in Asia; Dumaguete as
a center of sustainable development and quality holistic education;
Iloilo, a premier city; Marikina, a world-class city; and the island
garden city of Samal as an urban center in rural setting.
San Fernando, La Union
envisions itself to be a Botanical Garden City; San Fernando, Pampanga
as gateway in North Philippines; Sorsogon as progressive gateway to
the South; Tacurong as the most livable city in Central Cotabato;
Tagaytay as a resort, retirement and character city; Tagbilaran, a
prime eco-cultural tourism hub; Tangub, the agri-business and learning
center of Northern Mindanao; and Toledo, as the premier and livable
city in the west coast.
ISA has focused on
cities and enjoined mayors to be Public Governance System fellows
because among the mayors currently now in office, “a few have shown
exemplary commitment for the common good and competence to work
effectively for it.”
Another reason is that
local government autonomy through the Local Government Code of 1991,
has empowered local government units and secondly, among the local
government units, cities have a strategic position arising from their
being relatively few and their being able to count on more than half
of the current population already living in them. There are only 114
cities scattered all over the country.
The 15 Dream Cities
are among the co-convenors in the “Mahal Ko ang Pilipinas (I Love the
Philippine) Conference which will be held at the Westin Philippine
Plaza Hotel on August 30.
