Mayor Pie: 'Shifts in governance call for a change in mindsets and culture'
Ang sumusunod ay sipi mula sa opisyal na mensahe ni Mayor Pie Alvarez sa Konseho ng San Vicente, Palawan noong kanyang isinumite ang Annual Budget sa kapulungan noong Setyembre ng nakaraang taon. Ibinabahgi ng Unlad San Vicente! ang kopyang ito para sa kaalaman ng mga mamamayan ng bayang ito, at para na rin lubusang maunawaan ng lahat ang konteksto ng balita patungkol sa Budget ng munisipyo.
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Photo from Rappler.com
THE HONORABLE MEMBERS
SANGGUNIANG BAYAN
This Municipality
Ladies and Gentlemen:
By the mandate vested upon me by the sovereign people of San Vicente, Palawan, I am submitting to you all, through your Presiding Officer, Vice-Mayor Antonio V. Gonzales, the Proposed Budget of this local government for Fiscal Year 2016.
‘Shifts’
Our municipality’s development pace has suddenly shifted gears: from largely IRA-dependent, LGU-controlled, relatively slow, uphill drive to multi-stakeholder, LGU-facilitated, faster and presumably smoother ride. From a single engine, our local governance machinery has upgraded to higher power, multiple engines; from simply “driving,” our role has expanded to “managing” the different drivers of local development, ensuring that the vehicle remains on track, the destination is reached, and the passengers’ safety and well-being uncompromised; and from parochial goals, we now can and shall strive for bigger, loftier dreams.
The national government, through the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), has kept pouring down resources, at historic magnitude, here. TIEZA has declared our municipality the first, and the only Flagship Tourism Enterprise Zone (TEZ) in the whole country – from among 1,635 municipalities, from among 81 provinces, from among 7,107 islands. Our access to the provincial government and its resources has never been this handy, too. For Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015 alone, close to a PhP 100 Million worth of projects and assistance reached this once sleepy town in the north. Our local government now enjoys the tremendous benefits 27 brand new heavy equipment deliver to our road-building and other infrastructure-related development requirements.
Heavy equipment, purchased by the Provincial Government of Palawan at a scheme praised by the national government, parade at the LGU's Motorpool. These heavy equipment are instrumental to the ongoing massive road opening, rehabilitation and concreting of roads all over the municipality.
For the Times they are a-changin’, so Bob Dylan puts it. The great singer advises in the same song: “[Y]ou better start swimming / or you sink like a stone”, and “keep your eyes wide / the / chance don’t come again.”
Indeed, the times have changed, and so must our governance mindsets and orientations, too. Tapos na ang panahon ng “pwede na”, o “okay na ‘yan.” From comfort zones, we move to competitive zones; from the current “normal,” we create the “new normal” of efficiencies, effectiveness, continuous improvement, resource management, stakeholder engagement and collaboration, public service delivery and drive for genuine community development and empowerment. Kailangan laging magaling, laging pinaka-‘da best’. Kailangan maging kultura sa munisipyo at paglilingkod ang excellence, efficiency, effectiveness at “service above self,” o “bayan bago ang lahat.”
And the best time to do all these has come.
Our development blueprint has been defined and laid out; our external development stakeholders have started playing out their respective roles – half of the sky now rests upon us, the local government and our local people. Each one has a role to play, and the players’ action – or inaction, or misstep – will have impact to the pace of our journey, and on the end-destination we will ultimately reach. Please remember that as we leaf open this new chapter of San Vicente’s journey, some 50% of our population live below poverty level – we shall work together to eliminate, if not reduce, that number, and improve the quality of life of every citizen of this municipality.
In our recent medium-term development planning for years 2016-2020, we all agreed that we shall make San Vicente “a premiere tourism destination, a leader in sustainable development, green and inclusive growth, and good governance by 2020.” Furthermore, we all concurred that for us to reach this vision, we shall all ensure that all our programs, projects and activities from 2016 onward shall contribute to the achievement of this end-goal.
This Budget is part of that Plan, developed by the different stakeholders of our municipality, anchored on our aforementioned vision, on our mandate as a local government as set forth by the Philippine Constitution and the Local Government Code of 1991, framed within this context of paradigm shifts, of “changing times and mindsets,” and below principles of good public financial management:
Spending Within Our Means. This Budget was designed to boost revenue collections, contain deficits, and keep public spending within the authority set by law and our Legislature;
Investing in the Right Priorities. This Budget makes inclusive growth an achievable goal and not just a mere aspiration by focusing our scarce resources on programs and projects that have the greatest impact in reducing poverty, improving the lives of our people, and preparing the municipality to greater opportunities which will in turn, plough back benefits to its citizenry;
Delivering Measurable Results. This Budget addresses the institutional weaknesses that prevent our departments and offices from delivering services in an efficient, strategic manner, while likewise leveraging alternative means of delivery together with the national and provincial governments, and the private sector; and
Empowering Citizens through the Budget. This Budget allows us to intensify our pursuit for greater transparency, accountability, and people participation and empowerment.
We shall prepare our local government toward this trajectory. We shall ensure that our local people gain equitable benefits from this development without hurting our rich biodiversity and its capacity to provide ecological goods and services to our children, and our children’s children. Together, we shall all march toward the achievement of these shared goals and dreams.
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